Legal Futures reports
A law student has won a partial victory in a judicial review challenging the recommendations of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA), an independent body which reviews student complaints about universities.
The High Court heard that the student, referred to as KT, was expelled by Reading University last year following an “altercation” in its library.
Jonathan Moffett KC, sitting as a deputy High Court judge, said that as a result of his decision, the OIA’s “would need to resume its decision-making process”.
KT began his law degree in 2016. His studies were interrupted for personal reasons and in 2019 the university excluded him on ‘fitness to study’ grounds.
He successfully complained to the OIA and he was allowed to continue his studies. He has completed the first two years and several of his final-year modules.
In the early hours of 20 November 2022, he was “found sleeping in a room in one of the university buildings in circumstances that indicated he was staying there overnight and that he had caused some damage”.
Three days later, he was involved in “an altercation” with a member of staff and two security guards in the university library. The police were called and KT was arrested, but the judge said “it appears that the police subsequently decided to take no further action”.
KT was suspended and the university’s student disciplinary committee expelled him, a decision upheld by the student appeal committee.
KT complained to the OIA, which in a decision sent to the parties for comment on 2 November said it was not satisfied that the committee had provided “clear and sufficient reasons for the severity of penalty applied”.
It set out various recommendations for how the matter should proceed.
However, the university then asked the OIA to consider new evidence, namely further “alleged incidents of misconduct” which had led to the police arresting KT and releasing him on bail.
His bail conditions included not calling university staff or students, not making “any contact” with the university and not entering the county of Berkshire.
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Law student wins partial victory in court challenge to expulsion
