RUBINS v. LATVIA JUDGMENT – SEPARATE OPINION 29 15. It is important to add that the assessment of the proportionality of a dismissal of an employee should take into consideration not only the rights of the employee but also the legitimate interests of the employer. The latter is, in principle, entitled to take measures to ensure the smooth running of the enterprise, including for the benefit of the employees taken as a whole, and, in that context, to choose its employees, to propose changes to the terms of their employment contract or to terminate the employment, provided that it respects the applicable national law, notably labour law and contract law. Furthermore, if the employer is a public university, the analysis should also take into account its position in the domestic law and especially the degree of autonomy it enjoys. Academic autonomy serves democracy in general and freedom of expression in particular. An academic institution is, in principle, entitled to exercise fully its freedom of taking employment decisions, within the limits of its autonomy as laid down in domestic law. We regret that the majority refrained from addressing these questions. C. Conclusion 16. In sum, we believe that the majority of our colleagues have misconceived the nature of the dispute (that is, the reason for the applicant’s dismissal from his post) and the content of the ruling by the national courts in order to arrive at their finding of a violation of the applicant’s right to freedom of expression. The approach proposed by the majority brings with it the risk of transforming the European Court of Human Rights into a higher-instance labour court adjudicating on the merits of labour disputes.