Academic Freedom in the United Kingdom

Abstract

This article is concerned with academic freedom in the United Kingdom, particularly in the universities. On the narrow front of court decisions there is very little to be said on the subject, nor has much systematic attention been given to it on a political, sociological, or even educational basis.' Academic freedom is indeed taken for granted in the United Kingdom, and matters taken for granted are not much written about in a systematic way. In regard to this particular subject, this is no doubt a pity. On the other hand, there are several matters which are very much bound up with academic freedom which have been receiving a good deal of attention in recent years, especially in the universities. Some of these certainly have legal aspects which are of substantial importance and which would repay a more careful analysis than I am in a position to make here. The following pages are indeed offered tentatively and with some diffidence as prolegomena to a more substantial study which it is to be hoped that one of our constitutional lawyers may one day be induced to undertake. What is entailed in the expression academic freedom? This problem is studied in other pages of this symposium. For the purpose of this article it is sufficient to say that it means freedom of thought, utterance, teaching, and research in academic institutions; and the extent to which this in fact exists in the United Kingdom it will be my principal object to discuss. It may be said at once that freedom of thought and utterance is one of the most prized civil liberties of the Englishman, and the teachers in the universities are no less free in this regard than their fellow citizens. It is hardly necessary here to add that this principle is qualified by the general obligation not to overstep the limits set by the general law, particularly in respect of defamation.