Good faith and recognition of foreign study equivalences

ACOM/157/1997Court of Justice / Administrative ChamberSep 30, 1997Modified

Extracted by Omnilex

Omnilex summary

A student contested the Faculty of Letters' refusal to recognize complete equivalence for a year of studies completed at a foreign university. The appeal body held that the student could invoke good faith because the faculty's study regulations contained a gap and neither the professor nor the materials provided to the student included any reservation. The refusal was therefore set aside in substance and the requested equivalence granted.

Omnilex headnote

RU.87; principle of good faith in university equivalence matters: where a faculty's study regulations are incomplete and the information furnished to the student contains no express reservation, the student may rely on the indications given and invoke good faith against a later refusal of full equivalence for foreign studies. The authority must not deny recognition where its own conduct or documentation objectively created a protected expectation, unless a clear regulatory basis excludes the equivalence or an explicit reservation was communicated (consid. implied).

Full text

Descripteurs

UNIVERSITE; ETUDIANT; EQUIVALENCE; ETAT ETRANGER; REGLEMENT; PRINCIPE DE LA BONNE FOI; CRUNI

Normes

RU.87

Résumé

Le recourant peut se prévaloir de la violation du principe de la bonne foi face au refus de la faculté des lettres de lui reconnaître des équivalences complètes pour des études d'un an dans une université étrangère, eu égard à la lacune du règlement d'étude de cette faculté et à l'absence de réserve émanant de son professeur ou de la documentation remise.

Keywords

good faithequivalenceforeign studiesuniversity regulationslegitimate expectations

Extracted by Omnilex

Key legal questions extracted by Omnilex

Key legal question

Whether the student could rely on the principle of good faith to obtain full recognition of foreign study equivalences.

Extracted holding

Yes. The refusal to grant full equivalence violated good faith in light of the gap in the faculty's study regulations and the absence of any reservation in the professor's statements or the documentation given to the student.

Extracted reasoning

The court considered that the regulatory framework did not clearly exclude the equivalence claimed, and the student had been led to rely on the information and documents provided without warning that the studies might not be fully recognized.

Good faith and recognition of foreign study equivalencesAI generated