The Thinkery and the Academy: Examining the Legal Parameters and Interactions of Academic Freedom and Freedom of Expression Under English Law

Abstract

This paper examines how the right to free expression and academic freedom interact under English and international law, discusses how those two rights have traditionally been thought to interact, and considers how they can be brought together with the concept of academic free expression. In doing so, the article examines the legal parameters and key characteristics of academic free expression, namely: what is the protection afforded to it; what are its ‘qualifying criteria’; what are its limits and how might the protection afforded to it be lost; and, where might such protection not be lost as compared to the general right to free expression. To end, the article discusses why this all matters with reference to recent high-profile disputes over academic freedom, and examines how these issues interact with other UK laws, in particular, the upcoming Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill.