Organization Appeal Committee, Ombuds Office and Integrity Officers

Appeal Committee, Ombuds Office and Integrity Officers

Appeal Committee

The Appeal Committee is the internal administrative judicial authority of the University of Bern. In particular, it assesses appeals against decisions made by the bodies of the University's faculties.

Appeals

The Appeal Committee is a body of the University of Bern (Article 34 paragraph 1 section g of the University Act [UniG]). As an internal administrative justice authority (Article 136 paragraph 1 of the University Ordinance [UniV]), it is independent of the other university bodies and is not bound by their directives (Article 2 paragraph 2 of the regulations). The Appeal Committee assesses appeals at first instance relating to announcements of the University of Bern, not made by the Senate, the Executive Board of the University of Bern or its members and the President (Article 76 paragrapg 2 UniG and Article 76 paragraph 1 UniG).

In contrast, it is not responsible for appeals lodged against announcements of the Senate, the Executive Board of the University of Bern or its members and the President; these are to be submitted to the Ministry of Education of the Canton of Bern (Article 76 paragraph 1 UniG).

Appeals procedure

If an appeal does not prove to be clearly inadmissible or unfounded, the Appeal Committee begins the appeals procedure. This procedure is conducted in accordance with the Act on Administrative Procedural Law of the Canton of Bern (Verwaltungsrechtspflegegesetz, VRPG). The process generally takes around six to eight months in total.

Further tasks

Rulings

The Appeal Committee publishes a selection of its decisions. This provides an overview of the committee's established case-law. This selection is by no means exhaustive and the decisions cannot be applied to different circumstances.

to rulings

Statistics

The statistics provide information on the Appeal Committee's workload over the previous year. Specifically, they show how many appeals were lodged against the faculties and other organizational units of the University of Bern and how these were settled.

to statistics

Further tasks

The Appeal Committee also attests to the validity of cost decisions made by the relevant bodies (in particular clinics and institutes of the university) before the cantonal tax administration.

The Appeal Committee then conducts the investigation in procedures to remove academic titles and starts the proceedings with the Senate if the integrity officer is not responsible for doing so here (Article 36 section b of the University Statute [UniSt]).

In the event of a dispute, it also makes decisions on third-party requests for information from the university and its organizational units (Article 36 section c UniSt).

Finally, the Appeal Committee regularly submits reports to the Executive Board of the University of Bern on its practices (Article 8 paragraph 1 of the regulations). It submits requests to the Executive Board for provision of the measures that it deems necessary to ensure that lawful conditions are achieved (Article 8 paragraph 2 of the regulations).

Members

Members of the Appeal Committee

Legal Secretariat

The Legal Secretary of the Appeal Committee supports the President and the other members of the committee in all their activities.
In particular, these include:

  • The Legal Secretary of the Appeal Committee supports the President and the other members of the committee in all their activities.
  • In particular, these include:
  • Participating in the briefing for the proceedings (clarification of the facts)
  • Editing decisions, announcements, statements and other correspondence
  • Taking minutes at committee meetings
  • Participating in committee meetings in an advisory capacity
  • Cosigning appeal rulings.

However, the legal secretariat cannot and must not offer any legal advice:

  • The legal aid service of the Student Union of the University of Bern (SUB) offers legal advice to students registered at the University of Bern.
  • The intermediate staff association at the University of Bern offers its members free legal advice on matters relating to their work at the university.
  • The University of Bern Ombudsperson is the point of contact for university staff in the event of conflicts that arise from their working relationship with the university.
  • The Counseling Service of the Universities of Bern offers services including advice on conflicts or questions about career or training matters. However, it does not offer any legal advice.

Legal Secretariat