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Browsing School of Law by Subject "academic freedom"
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Item Academic Freedom and Its Protection in the Law of European States(BRILL NIJHOFF, 2016) Appiagyei-Atua, K.; Beiter, K.D.; Karran, T.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.Item A review of academic freedom in Africa through the Prism of the UNESCO's 1997 Recommendation(CODESRIA, 2016) Appiagyei-Atua, K.; Beiter, K.; Karran, T.An assessment of the level of compliance of the UNESCO Recommendation in Europe, Australia, USA and other jurisdictions indicates that the document has been honoured more in its breach than in its observance. Having returned to an ethos of a democratic culture and a refinement of the role of the university in the globalization era, it is time for Africa also to be assessed on the level of compliance with the UNESCO Recommendation. This assessment is done based on four indicators identified in the UNESCO Recommendation: institutional autonomy, institutional governance, individual rights and freedoms, and tenure. The conclusion reached is that academic freedom has indeed found its way back into African universities after its complete roll-back during the post-independence era. However, the university reforms undertaken in the globalization era in many African universities have undermined greater respect for academic freedom and made hollow the gains made in the respect of freedom in this era