A cap on the legal fees Norwegian universities pay to support students to challenge exclusions could reduce ¡°time-consuming and expensive¡± claims that have little chance of success, but there are fears it may also lead to less wealthy complainants losing out.

At present,?students who pursue legal action?after losing their place at university ¨C for instance,?in cases of suspected cheating?¨C may have their legal fees covered by their institution, with no upper limit on cost.

Proposing an amendment to the Universities and Colleges Act, which is now out for consultation, research and higher education minister Sigrun Aasland?: ¡°Students¡¯ legal rights must be safeguarded and they must continue to receive legal assistance in all instances, but the scheme must become more accurate and cost-effective.¡±

¡°We see today that too many resources are being spent on this, and that a number of cases are currently being brought to court that are not necessarily in the students¡¯ interests,¡± she said.

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Last year, a report by the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills found that the??between 2019 and 2021, before halving between 2021 and 2023.

Geir Egil Dahle ?ien, pro-rector for education at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), said legal expenses had spiked?owing to the Covid pandemic, which saw a rise in legal cases associated with home exams.

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Since then, ¡°the expenses have gone down, and this is of course good¡±, he said. ¡°But still some of the cases are time-consuming and expensive beyond reason. A few cases also end up in court, often to little or no gain for the student.¡±

¡°The right to free legal counsel strengthens students¡¯ legal protection and ensures equal opportunity to engage a lawyer regardless of financial background,¡± ?ien said.

However, ¡°we still experience lawyers spending more time than necessary on several cases, and we have seen a tendency to present arguments with little merit. The threshold for filing complaints seems to be low when institutions cover all costs.¡±

But Sigve N?ss R?tvold, president of the National Union of Students in Norway (NSO), said a cap on legal fee coverage ¡°will only affect students¡¯ due process¡±, telling?Times Higher Education:?¡°Access to judicial assistance should never be a socio-economic issue, where a students¡¯ personal or familial financial health sets the bar.¡±

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¡°We have seen far too many cases where students are dragged through unnecessarily lengthy and stressful legal procedures against their institution, only for them to be acquitted of cheating charges,¡± R?tvold said. ¡°Many have their studies delayed because of this, affecting their ability to receive stipends and losing opportunities for further studies.¡±

¡°Given this reality, it¡¯s puzzling that the focus from the Norwegian government is to target the students, instead of addressing the root causes.¡±

?ien said?that?¡°some students may have unrealistic expectations of what they can achieve by engaging lawyers, which in turn can lead to prolonged case processing¡±.

While ¡°students must keep their rights to legal representation,¡± he said, the right to legal support in various other matters was capped and ¡°we believe that, over time, it may be offensive to the public if there are large discrepancies between the legal aid available to society at large and what is offered within academia¡±.

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R?tvold, meanwhile, said the focus should be on ¡°shorten[ing] the waiting and procedural times for cases on academic misconduct¡±, while higher education institutions should ¡°review their institutional grading and assessment procedures that in several cases have led to unjustified accusations of cheating¡±.

emily.dixon@timeshighereducation.com