Issuing pre-degree certificates: provisions of the relevant government decree rethought, university practices revised upon the Ombudsman's recommendation

AJB-1545/2014

In accordance with the initiative of Ombudsman László Székely, the problematic provisions of the relevant government decree have been repealed and new, unambiguous regulations have been adopted in connection with issuing pre-degree certificates. In the course of an earlier inquiry, launched upon a complaint submitted to his Office, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights established that the relevant government decree had overstepped its statutory authorization and, as a result, some universities set a minimum grade point average for issuing pre-degree certificates instead of issuing them upon the passing of all necessary exams.

Several faculties of the Corvinus University of Budapest used to prescribe the achievement of a satisfactory GPA as a precondition of issuing pre-degree certificates. In his earlier report the Ombudsman recalled that the relevant statute did not stipulate any GPA requirements. As far as issuing pre-degree certificates is concerned, only the educational and graduation requirement specified by the law and the completion of a study program compiled in accordance therewith have relevance.

The Commissioner established that prescribing the achievement of a minimum GPA as a precondition of issuing pre-degree certificates infringed on the requirement of legal certainty. As an additional requirement, also deviating from the criteria stipulated in the Higher Education Act, through prescribing the achievement of a certain grade, the Corvinus University of Budapest used to compel its students to retake the exams they had already passed, forcing them, in some cases, to repeat the semester. Thus the University increased the time spent by the students on their studies and delayed the graduates' entry onto the labor market.

In his report, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights turned to the Government requesting the repeal of the provisions that could be interpreted in a way overstepping their statutory authorization. The Commissioner requested the Minister of Human Resources to find out whether there were other higher education institutions using the practice described in the report and recommended the soonest possible settlement of the situation of the students concerned.

In his reply, the State Secretary responsible for higher education informed the Commissioner that the provisions of the government decree had been repealed and new ones had been formulated to prevent higher education institutions from interpreting them in a way that would deviate from the intents of the legislator. The State Secretary indicated that they had completed the investigation requested by the Commissioner: Pannon University had turned out to have a practice similar to that of the Corvinus University of Budapest.  The State Secretary also pointed out that they had contacted Pannon University in connection with this issue, and that they had not received any substantial response from Corvinus University yet.

In his reply to the State Secretary, Ombudsman László Székely has expressed agreement with the measures taken by the Ministry, simultaneously requesting further information as to when the pre-degree certificates will be issued to those students who were adversely affected by the improper practices of the higher education institutions.