Legal regulation as a condition or obstacle to freedom? A special reference to the freedom of scientific research in the legal system of Czech Republic as a focus
Abstract
The issue of freedom is part of a broader discourse on the optimal arrangement of mutual relations between the individual on the one hand and society (the state) on the other. As a consequence of different ideas regarding the meaning of freedom, this discussion is characterized by a plurality of views on whether the relationship between freedom and regulation is complementary or, on the contrary, antinomic.
In the field of law, then, the reflection and outcome of this debate is the conception of human rights that is now usually captured in various human rights documents. In the first part of this essay, three main conceptions of freedom are analysed in order to assess the importance and role of regulation in which conception of freedom.
At the same time, the advantages and disadvantages of each model of freedom for human life are assessed. In the second part, the human rights section, attention is paid to what contemporary Czech law considers to be an appropriate arrangement of the interrelation between freedom (and especially freedom of expression and freedom of scientific research) and law.
It is also shown and considered how different visions of freedom may influence the shape of the proposed interpretation of the same human rights provisions.