Is academic freedom truly protected—or just a comforting slogan? It has been praised for decades, but what is its actual legal weight? This book moves past the eulogies to ask the harder question: how far does the law really shield scholars from harassment, censorship, or quiet institutional pressure? Tracing academic freedom through international and European legal instruments and case law, Pasvenskienė uncovers a patchwork of overlapping, sometimes contradictory protections. The author includes examples of where courts have advanced academic freedom—and where dangerous gaps remain, including new pressures from digital technologies in education. This book is an essential reading for those who care about defending free inquiry.