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.