CYIL vol. 14 (2023)

CYIL 14 (2023)

THE EUROPEAN COURT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND ACADEMIC FREEDOM

THE EUROPEAN COURT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND ACADEMIC FREEDOM Jan Malíř

Abstract: The present Article provides an overview of the ECtHR’s case-law on academic freedom. Based on the analysis of this case-law, the Article argues the ECtHR currently views academic freedom as a value-based principle rather than an individual right. As such, academic freedom normally appears to guide the ECtHR when it deals with rights and freedoms, enshrined in the ECHR, in the academic context and when it is called upon to interpret the ECHR in this context. Even though, the role of academic freedom is non negligible in the law of the ECHR and the ECtHR has laid down at least some standards concerning the guarantees of academic freedom in the Contracting States. Resumé: Tento článek podává přehled o judikatuře ESLP týkající se akademické svobody. Na základě rozboru této judikatury článek tvrdí, že ESLP považuje v současnosti akademic kou svobodu spíše za hodnotový princip než za individuální právo. Jako taková slouží akade mická svoboda ESLP zpravidla jako vodítko, pokud ESLP rozhoduje o porušení práv a svobod zakotvených v EÚLP v akademickém kontextu a když je v témže kontextu vyzýván k výkladu EÚLP. Přesto je role akademické svobody v právu ESLP nezanedbatelná a ESLP stanovil ale spoň některé standardy ohledně záruk akademické svobody ve smluvních státech. Keywords: ECHR, ECtHR, academic freedom, freedom of expression, principle, individual right, international soft law, binding standards About the Author: JUDr. Jan Malíř, Ph.D. , is a senior research fellow at the department of public law of the Institute of State and Law of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague (Czech Republic), and a member of Commission for European Law, advisory body of the Czech Cabinet Legislative Council. He focuses on EU law, selected issues of public international law, and comparative constitutional law. Introduction Academic freedom 1 has long been regarded as one of the key elements underlying both the intellectual development and the existence of a pluralistic society. 2 As the Rome Inter Ministerial Conference, composed of ministers of higher education of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), put it, academic freedom is “an indispensable aspect of quality learning, teaching and research in higher education” while constituting “an essential element of democracy”. 3 Due to the ongoing social, economic, and technological transformations but, 1 On academic freedom in a comparative perspective, see, inter alia, BARENDT, E., Academic Freedom and the Law: A Comparative Study (Hart Publishing, 2010). 2 The political scientists and international relations experts are not, however, wrong in concluding that, when it comes to academic freedom, “[t]here are, however, different understandings of this concept. Discourse around it has only begun to pay attention to changes taking place in HE (higher education) and in society at large”, see PRELEC, T., FURSTENBERG, S., HEATHERSHAW, J. AND THOMSON. C., “Is academic freedom at risk from internationalisation? Results from a 2020 survey of UK social scientists”, The International Journal of Human Rights , 26(10) (2022) 1698–1722, DOI: 10.1080/13642987.2021.2021398. 3 Rome Ministerial Communiqué, Annex I – Statement on Academic Freedom, 19 November 2020, available at http://ehea.info/Upload/Rome_Ministerial_Communique_Annex_I.pdf.

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