HIGHER EDUCATION
One year ago we reported that the 2003 summer amendment of Act LXXX of 1993 on Higher Education affected the sphere of competence of the Commissioner for Educational Rights. This amendment terminated the legal supervision of the Minister of Education over a significant section of the higher education sector. Taking into account the fact that the sphere of competence of the Commissioner for Educational Rights was based on the legal supervisory jurisdiction of the Minister of Education, as of 1 July 2003 , the narrowing of the legal supervisory jurisdiction of the Minister of Education also meant the narrowing of the sphere of competence of the Commissioner for Educational Rights.
However, this year we can report that the Parliament-as of 1 September 2004 -has again amended the Higher Education Act. With this amendment, the legislator sets out as a separately named right, that if participants in higher education suffer a violation of rights, then they can turn to the Commissioner for Educational Rights.
As of this point, the Commissioner for Educational Rights once again has the opportunity to-after exhausting all other avenues of legal remedy, but prior to a judicial proceeding-to receive complaints from students and teachers of higher education institutions, and after having listened to all concerned parties to conduct investigations into the matters. If the Commissioner discovers that educational rights have been violated, then he can put forward an initiative to the university or college in order to remedy the violation of rights.
As we have already mentioned last year, between 1 July 2003 and 1 September 2004 we have answered all questions regarding higher education in which only information was requested of us by petitioners (names, addresses of organisations; number and title of statutes, description of certain provisions of statutes, etc.). Petitions requesting inquiries, however, were turned away due to having no jurisdiction in these matters.
The complaints received in 2004-as we have traditionally done in previous years-were split up into three large categories. The first group contains cases related entrance examinations; the second group contains cases related to how educational requirements are fulfilled, while the third group contains cases related to the financing of students' studies.
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