Right to science and open access to legal knowledge in international and european law

The Chapter addresses, in an international/EU law perspective, the issue of the dissemination of legal research. The international legal order defines the right to science in the Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the same right is cited in acts adopted by many international organizations and is included in binding instruments, mainly in the form of the principle of sharing the benefits of scientific research. Affirmed the existence of a right to science in contemporary international law, the Chapter will reconstruct its nature and content: some authors conceive it as an independent right, that deserves an autonomous protection, as it aims at increasing the quality of the life of individuals and collectivities; other scholars build it as an instrument for implementing ‘classic’ fundamental rights. Among its applications, the one related to the free dissemination of research results, promoted by the Open Access movement, is pivotal, especially with reference to public funded research. In this perspective, the Chapter will mainly focus on three issues: 1) the international law rules on the right to science as legal precursors for open access; 2) the international intellectual property rights regime as a limitation to the right to science and, by the latter, to open access; 3) artificial intelligence, fed by open access, as a means for reconstructing State practice and customary international law.