21 December 2021
Constitutional Democracy and The Sound of (Academic) Silence
Many constitutions, and the liberal values that permeate them, constitute the reaction to the mass atrocities, often in the face of academic silence (if not full-blown endorsement). Therefore, a constitutional law scholar that does not denounce attempts to subvert the constitutional order as such is actually sacrificing the pursuit of legal knowledge at the altar of a misguided – and historically damned – attempt at ‘neutrality’. The sound of academic silence, in the face of constitutional regression, is deafening. Continue reading >>
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10 December 2021
Outside the Walls
Scholarship, its freedom, its outside, and us Continue reading >>07 September 2021
Platform research access in Article 31 of the Digital Services Act
Over the past year, dominant platforms such as Facebook have repeatedly interfered with independent research projects, prompting calls for reform. Platforms are shaping up as gatekeepers not only of online content and commerce, but of research into these phenomena. As self-regulation flounders, researchers are hopeful for Article 31 of the proposed Digital Services Act, on “Data Access and Scrutiny” - a highly ambitious tool to compel access to certain data, but researchers also need a shield to protect them against interference with their independent projects. Continue reading >>
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19 May 2021
Academic Freedom Under Attack in Brazil
Can the chief of a constitutional organization akin to an ombudsman prosecute a law professor who criticized him in a newspaper article? Apparently, because Brazilian Prosecutor General just filed a complaint against Constitutional Law Professor Conrado Hübner Mendes. This attack follows a wave of democratic erosion that includes attacks on universities, intellectualism, and the diversity of ideas. Continue reading >>19 April 2021
Defending Plurality
Academic freedom is under attack, both in authoritarian democracies, such as Hungary and Turkey, and in liberal Western democracies, such as the United States, the UK, France and Germany. However, dominant discourses about academic freedom and free speech in the global north, lately especially in France and Germany, focus on an alleged threat to academic freedom through "political correctness" and "cancel culture", that, under scrutiny, often turn out to be exactly the opposite, namely defences of plurality and critical voices. Continue reading >>03 April 2021
From Captured State to Captive Mind
Finding two history professors guilty of allegedly defaming the good name of an individual by researching his alleged role in the Holocaust must not be treated as yet another run-of-the-mill litigation instigated by a relative concerned about a tarnished good name. Rather, Poland seems to be entering an unchartered territory of settling the score by way of the long arm of the law. The sacred dignity of the Polish nation hidden under the convenient argument from protecting the “good name” of individuals takes center stage and overshadows the need to have a robust historical discourse. Continue reading >>29 March 2021
Intimidation through Litigation
Last week, legal proceedings were initiated against a Polish writer as well as a couple of high school students for allegedly insulting Polish President Andrzej Duda. These proceedings are just the latest examples of how Polish authorities or their allies attempt to intimidate and silence critics by means of litigation. Continue reading >>
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11 March 2021
Historians on Trial
On 9 February 2021, the District Court in Warsaw ruled that two prominent Holocaust researchers must publicly apologize for statements published in a book about the extermination of Jews in Nazi Germany-occupied Poland during the Second World War. The lawsuit is an example of strategic litigation aimed at intimidating researchers and exercising a chilling effect on the debate in Poland due to the involvement of an organization close to the government and framing of the case in pro-government public and private media. In March, courts in Poland handed judgments in two other important strategic lawsuits brought on criminal charges. Continue reading >>24 February 2021
A Witch Hunt In French Universities
At a time when French universities are struggling to deal with the epidemic, when students’ poverty should be a prime concern for the authorities, the French Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, Frédérique Vidal, announced on a TV channel that she intends to set up an inquiry into “islamo-leftism” and postcolonialism in French universities. This reminds the attacks in the 1930s against the “judeo-masonic” lobby, attacks which ended up in the cleansing of universities when the Vichy Régime was established in 1940. Continue reading >>15 February 2021
‘Police-Governed’ Universities
On 11 February, the Greek Parliament passed legislation that provides for the creation of a new police corps, permanently stationed on campuses. Ostensibly designed to maintain order at universities, the new law violates both academic freedom and the ‘self-governing’ legal status of the universities, as enshrined in the Greek Constitution. Particularly in light of allegations of increasing police violence and abuse of police power in the country, this new law and the nature and duties of the university police raise serious concerns. Continue reading >>
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