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The protection of the right to academic mobility under international human rights law

Academic Mobility

ISBN: 978-1-78350-853-2, eISBN: 978-1-78350-854-9

Publication date: 10 July 2014

Abstract

Scholarly excellence in higher education depends in part on the ability of members of the academic community to be able to travel abroad, to return home and to move freely within a state for the purposes of study, teaching and research. Articles 12 and 13 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966 protect the right to freedom of movement and the right of aliens not to be arbitrarily expelled from a state, respectively. Any person may rely on these provisions to claim various stated entitlements related to freedom of movement. International human rights law does not, however, offer (clear) protection where an alien wishes to enter a state. It appears, however, that Article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, prohibiting discrimination on the ground of, amongst other things, ‘political or other opinion’, may be relied on to prevent states from restricting the entry of scholars solely on the basis of the academic opinions they hold or views they have expressed. The right to freedom of movement of scholars – conceived as a right to academic mobility – forms a part of the right to academic freedom. International human rights law does not accord express protection to this right. Whereas the right to freedom of opinion and expression in Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights may be relied on to protect a multitude of facets covered by the right to academic freedom, Article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966 on the right to education may, in fact, be seen to constitute a complete locus for the right to academic freedom.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgement

The author, Marie Curie Intra-European Fellow, under the supervision of Prof. Terence Karran, at the Centre for Educational Research and Development, University of Lincoln, UK, wishes to thank the European Commission for having generously supported the research for this chapter within the context of its Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

Citation

Beiter, K. (2014), "The protection of the right to academic mobility under international human rights law", Academic Mobility (International Perspectives on Higher Education Research, Vol. 11), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 243-265. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-362820140000011019

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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