Freedom of Public Employees’ Political Expression:

A Comparative Analysis of French, Egyptian, and Jordanian Law

Mohammed Abdul Mohsen Mohammed bin Treef

Abdallah Majed Abdel-mutaleb al-Akayleh

Kamal Mohamoud Alasaf 

 

Abstract: This article critically outlines and examines the limits to the right to hold political views and the ways in which those limits are implemented in relation to public employment through administrative law. More specifically, the research investigates the key issue of how a balance can be struck between the constitutional protections for individuals’ liberties and the duties owed by public officials to promote impartiality in government activities. The article argues that public employees have recognised political freedoms that may be exercised only within permissible bounds set out by the law to maintain both the neutrality and operational effectiveness of public administration. Adopting a comparative legal approach, using an evaluation of judicial decisions and relevant legislation in France, Egypt and Jordan, the article investigates thematic political liberty, the legal constraints placed on that freedom, and its connection with the administrative structure of governance. The study demonstrates that all three legal systems recognise and respect the right of public service personnel to have their own opinions on political matters while regulating the manner of exercising these rights with a view to ensuring neutrality and efficiency in administration. The article concludes that there is a nuanced difference between a non-conditional right to hold political beliefs and a conditional right to express them when engaged in public service.