Request seeking the launch of disciplinary proceedings withdrawn

In September 2021, the Office of the Dean of the Faculty of Law at a Swiss University requested the Rector to launch a disciplinary procedure against a student. Kanzlei König filed an objection and was able to obtain the withdrawal of the request by the Office of the Dean in November 2021.

The request to launch a disciplinary procedure was made because, during an online examination in the summer of 2021, the student had copied various extended passages from previous sample examinations word-for-word into her own examination script, without citing the respective sources. As such, she was suspected of having committed “copy-paste plagiarism”, and of having behaved unfairly in the examination, in other words of misconduct with disciplinary significance. The examination was held online as part of the various safeguards to protect against coronavirus.

Kanzlei König established that the university must have been aware from past practice of the problem of “copy-paste plagiarism” within examinations. However, it was only when examinations were conducted online that plagiarism controls could be carried out, and hence such behaviour by students could be monitored for the first time. In addition, during the coronavirus crisis the university had set itself the task, specifically within regulations, of taking steps to prevent unfair behaviour within online examinations. Kanzlei König argued that the university had not reasonably complied with this duty.

Kanzlei König can provide you with advice and representation in issues related to education law.