Individual rights and collective obligation. Compulsory intervention towards substance abusers in Norwegian social law

This article focuses on an important duality in the modern welfare state: the will to help our fellow citizens through institutionalized welfare policies, and the danger of violating individual liberty and integrity. Individual rights of self-determination and integrity are important values of the liberal constitutional government (the Rechtstaat). Our collective ethical obligation to help those in need is an important value of the welfare state. With respect to compulsory intervention towards adult and under-age substance abusers, the possible tensions between these values are particularly visible. The legal foundation for such efforts in Norwegian social law is discussed with regard to different ethical and moral principles. The main questions are how compulsory interventions are justified and how different principles are weighted in positive law. The ethical principles of collective obligation and the moral principle of individual rights are differently balanced in the Child Care Service Act and the Social Service Act. Both acts, however, expose the problematic combination of solving social problems by the use of force and securing individual autonomy and integrity.