Academic freedom and its protection in the law of European states: Measuring an international human right

Klaus D. Beiter, Terence Karran, Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Focusing on those countries that are members of the European Union, it may be noted that these countries are bound under international human rights agreements, such as the International Covenants on Civil and Political, and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights or the European Convention on Human Rights, to safeguard academic freedom under provisions providing for the right to freedom of expression, the right to education, and respect for 'the freedom indispensable for scientific research.' unesco's Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel, a 'soft-law' document of 1997, concretises international human rights requirements to be complied with to make the protection of the right to academic freedom effective. Relying on a set of human rights indicators, the present article assesses the extent to which the constitutions, laws on higher education, and other relevant legislation of eu states implement the Recommendation's criteria. The situation of academic freedom in practice will not be assessed here. The results for the various countries have been quantified and countries ranked in accordance with 'their performance.' The assessment demonstrates that, overall, the state of the protection of the right to academic freedom in the law of European states is one of 'ill-health.' Institutional autonomy is being misconstrued as exhausting the concept of academic freedom, self-governance in higher education institutions sacrificed for 'executive-style' management, and employment security abrogated to cater for 'changing employment needs' in higher education.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)254-345
Number of pages92
JournalEuropean Journal of Comparative Law and Governance
Volume3
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016

Keywords

  • Academic freedom
  • Institutional autonomy
  • International human rights law
  • Legal protection of academic freedom in eu states
  • Self-governance
  • Tenure
  • Unesco Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel of 1997

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