"Dismissing a Student From University" - SPD and CDU reach consensus: stricter regulations for the Higher Education Act
The black-red coalition government has decided to tighten the Berlin Higher Education Act by restoring the possibility of expulsion for certain disciplinary offences. This will only apply as a last resort if there is a criminal conviction. The CDU and SPD stated that students cannot enroll at the same university for two years if they are expelled. The legislative amendment needs parliamentary approval, which is expected to be a formality.
Disciplinary offences
The amendment clarifies when a disciplinary offence occurs and what measures follow. It states that if a student at the university significantly impedes a university member through the use of physical violence, threats, or calls for physical violence, it constitutes a disciplinary offence. Sexual harassment and causing serious damage to university facilities are also considered violations.
Possible measures include expulsion, the threat of expulsion, reprimands, barring access to certain university facilities and digital infrastructure, and banning participation in a course of study for up to a semester.
The draft also eliminates the legal requirement for an order committee. "We will leave it to the universities to design their own order procedures through their statutes," the statement read.
Strengthening of house law
The amendment proposes to enforce harsher punishments for disruptive house rules. If extreme circumstances warrant it, house bans can now last up to nine months instead of the previous limit of three. If the danger persists, the measures can be renewed.
"With the parliamentary amendments of the coalition factions, we are clarifying disciplinary offences and measures, particularly in cases of physical violence, sexualised violence, and deliberate crimes against university members," said Marcel Hopp, the science spokesman for the SPD faction. This strengthens the protection of victims of violence and ensures that no instruments are used to sanction undesirable democratic statements or actions against students.
The proposed legislation was initiated by an allegedly anti-Semitic attack at the beginning of February. A Jewish FU student, Lahav Shapira, was admitted to hospital with facial bone fractures. A Palestinian student is suspected of having beaten and kicked Shapira on the streets of Berlin-Mitte. The prosecutor's office is considering charges of grievous bodily harm and a hate crime. The investigation is still ongoing, according to a spokesperson.
https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article212356918/Coalition-strengt- Berlin-Hochschulgesetz-an.html
