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• Academic freedom in the jurisprudence of the Hungarian Constitutional Court

  Petra Lea Láncos

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  The change of political regime in Hungary has also brought about a democratic commitment to the constitutional guarantee of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Among other freedoms, academic freedom was redefined in positive constitutional law, and the stage for judicial interpretation was set. The Hungarian Constitutional Court has been in operation and delivering rulings for almost two decades now, also shaping the contents und guarantees of the fundamental right inherent in academic freedom. In the Court’s case law, academic freedom has been reflected upon chiefly in two aspects: first, from the viewpoint of the freedom of scientific research and the access to historic archives, bearing a great potential for the post-communist society in facing its burdensome history and dealing with past grievances and, second, as the guarantee of the autonomy of institutions of higher education, gaining relevance in the last few years in the light of the reformed Act on Higher Education. However, academic freedom has remained a neglected field of study of constitutional law scholars, and a detailed elaboration of this fundamental freedom has yet to be undertaken.The present article offers a brief insight into the jurisprudence of the Hungarian Constitutional Court related to the concept and scope of academic freedom. As an illustration, the recent case law related to the autonomy of institutions of higher education is introduced, with an attempt to sketch the judicially set guarantees and limits of this fundamental freedom.