The Ombudsman Urges Law Enforcement for Disabled Students

2990/2012

The Ombudsman Urges Law Enforcement for Disabled Students

The rights of the disabled students are not enforced in a uniform practice by the higher education institutions, moreover, in certain cases, by the faculties within the institutions. The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights has concluded from this that the legislation is inadequate or ambiguous.  Máté Szabó asked the Minister of Human Resources to establish a clear legal context.

The disabled people may not be constrained in their access to the public goods available to the non-disabled people because of their disability. Because of their condition, they need to be supported so that they have equal chances and quality to exercise their universal rights. This justifies the requirement of preference in all fields of the society, for which the public services have to be organized depending on the differing necessities of the various groups of disabled persons. It is not sufficient to determine the requirement of preference by legal means. The law applying organs have to ensure the conditions of the enforcement of these rights as well.

The ombudsman's inquiry on the disabled students studying in higher education pointed out several contradictions. The definition of the disabled person and the scope of persons covered by the definition are not uniform in the UN Convention and the rules on higher education. The practice of the individual higher education institutions (in certain cases the individual faculties) may be significantly diverging. This may be due to the fact that they established their procedures not or not completely in compliance with the legal provisions. The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights concluded from all this that the legislation is ambiguous or inadequate.

According to the Commissioner, in possession of the expertise, the disabled students could have turned / can turn to their former higher education institutions pursuant to the legislation both formerly and at present in force in case they already took their final examination and respectively their student relationship was terminated, but they did not receive their diploma in the absence of fulfilling the language examination requirement. Their petitions have to be decided in merit by the higher education institution according to their content. The higher education institution may not refer to the student relationship meanwhile terminated. Máté Szabó also raised the attention to the fact that the submitted and positively decided immunity petitions during the student relationship form a proper basis for that these should be taken into consideration by the doctoral schools considering that the provisions of the Act on immunities and benefits have to be applied for the doctoral schools as well.

The ombudsman turned to the Minister of Human Resources and asked for the establishment of the harmony among the legal provisions. In addition, he initiated that the President of the Higher Education Institutions should facilitate the enforcement of the disabled students' rights.