The student argued that he could have completed his thesis in the summer of 2024 if he had been permitted to begin work on it in December 2023. In the first semester of the 2024/2025 academic year, he argued, he could then have completed two outstanding courses – Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure and Foundations of Law – allowing him to start a master’s programme in 2025.
UM maintained that there was no causal link between the student’s study delay and his not being allowed to begin work on his thesis. The student would not have been able to graduate in December 2025 in any case, as he had already fallen behind earlier in his studies.
The court agreed with the university’s reasoning. The judge noted that during the six months the student intended to write his thesis, he would also have needed to resit several second- and third-year courses: Constitutional and Administrative Law (10 ECTS), Law of Property (7 ECTS), Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure (10 ECTS), Procedural Law (7 ECTS) and Foundations of Law (10 ECTS). Successfully completing these courses as well as his thesis would have amounted to a study load of 65 ECTS in six months. For context, an academic year consists of 60 ECTS, with one ECTS credit equating to 28 hours of study.
The judge considered it unlikely that the student would have been able to complete his thesis successfully within such a short timeframe, as he had already failed to submit an acceptable research proposal on two occasions; on his second attempt, he achieved only half a point more (3 out of 10). In addition, the student has declined all offers from the university to resume work on his proposal and thesis.
The court has dismissed the student’s claim. He will not receive any damages and must pay €947 in legal costs within fourteen days.