THE EUROPEAN HIGHER EDUCATION SECTOR WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF GATS
In its judgement of 6 October 2020 (C-66/18), the European Court of Justice ruled that Hungary's Higher Education Act is incompatible with Union law.
2020
Freedom to teach and face-to-face teaching
In an interview with the Presse on 19 August 2020, Austrian Minister of Science Fassmann explained that the freedom to teach gives teachers the right to teach students in a face-to-face setting – even in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. In view of the various efforts made by Austrian universities to ensure teaching can take place in a safe environment, this statement will be critically examined below from a legal perspective. If the statement proves to be true, individual teachers could relatively easily torpedo the efforts of the universities.
COVID-19 Higher Education Act and Covid-19 Regulations of the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research
The COVID 19 Higher Education Act (C-HG) gives the Minister of Education power to issue regulations that derogate from certain provisions of the Universities Act (Universitätsgesetz), Higher Education Act (Hochschulgesetz), Technical Colleges Act (Fachhochschul-Studiengesetz) and Study Support Act (Studienförderungsgesetz).
Universities and the Coronavirus
As is well known, Austrian higher education institutions were among the first to be compelled to take restrictive measures, including a total closure of their facilities, due to the current pandemic. In the following, the team at CERHA HEMPEL outlines the legal challenges which higher education institutions and students will be con-fronted with in the weeks and months to come.
Recognition of examinations – Recognition regulation pursuant to Section 78 para. 1 of the Universities Act does not in principle preclude individual recognition
The Medical University of Vienna had issued what is known as a recognition regulation applicable to those students who have switched from an old to a new curriculum, according to which provision was made for a certain form of recognition in the new curriculum for certain subjects taken under the old curriculum. The applicant applied for "recognition of all outstanding course credits" for the new study programme on the basis of the course credits already earned under the old study programme and for a declaration stating that all course credits for the first to sixth semester of the diploma study programme in human medicine have been (newly) recognised or earned. The applicant specified this in greater detail in a tabular comparison.