Academic freedom

Even though the expression "academic freedom" is widely used, its contents are not well defined in law. Academic freedom is a freedom that contains other fundamental rights and freedoms. The purpose of this study is to define the contents of academic freedom and to reveal the constitutional protection that it can enjoy. In this work, the protection afforded by the Turkish constitutional law to academic freedom is examined with reference to comparative constitutional law and the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. In order to do that, we'll first give a brief account of the notion of academic freedom in its historical context; then put forward the relationship between academic freedom and other fundamental rights and freedoms; and finally explore the instruments in current positive law that can be used as a basis for the recognition of academic freedom. Next, academic freedom will be analyzed with its individual and institutional dimensions. For explaining the individual aspect of academic freedom, we'll try to define the scope of freedom of research, freedom of teaching, tenure and freedom of expression of academics. Finally, we'll see how university autonomy which constitutes the institutional aspect of academic freedom is regulated in constitutional law.