Disciplinary code for MU Faculty of Medicine students
Current version (PDF), effective from 19 Oct 2015, provisionally available only in Czech.
The previous version, in its wording effective as from 06 April 2009, is cited hereinafter:
The Disciplinary Code of the Faculty of Medicine of Masaryk University applies to all students enrolled for studies at the Faculty of Medicine of Masaryk University in accredited Bachelor’s, Master’s, and doctoral degree programmes.
Part One
Disciplinary Offence
Article 1
Concept definition
(1) A disciplinary offence is a deliberate violation of a duty stipulated by:
a) Act No. 111/1998 Coll., on higher education and on the alterations and amendments thereto (Higher Education Act), as amended (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”), or by any other legal regulation;
b) an internal regulation issued by Masaryk University (hereinafter referred to as “the University” or “MU”);
c) an internal regulation issued by the Faculty of Medicine (hereinafter referred to as “the Faculty” or “FM”).
(2) A disciplinary offence is in particular:
a) any form whatsoever of cheating (submission of forged documents and suchlike), copying or unauthorised collaboration in the fulfilment of study duties;
b) plagiarising another person’s work, in particular by using part of another person’s work in one’s own work without its appropriate citing, or by literally using part of another person’s work without obviously indicating its citation, for example by quotation marks (inverted commas);
c) submission of an identical or slightly adapted work required for the fulfilment of various study duties without previous consent granted by the teacher (person who assigned the work), in whose class exercises, practical training, seminars, or for the fulfilment of any other study assignments set by them the particular identical or adapted work is being submitted;
d) providing one’s own work to another person tested or prompting such person in the course of a proficiency test;
e) any form whatsoever of unauthorised manipulation with the respective questions drawn, or exchange of tests when writing written assignments, as well as using materials and technical aids other than those allowed by the teacher to fulfil study duties;
f) gross or repeated violation of duties, rules, and prohibitions arising out of a guideline issued by the respective Faculty’s Dean and relating to the study;
g) an especially grave or repeated breach of the rules and instructions for the use of MU’s computer network, set in the respective guideline issued by the Rector or the Faculty’s Dean;
h) intentional destruction, damage to or alienation of a thing, or misappropriation of the property belonging to the Faculty or the University, or of such property belonging to their employees, or of such property belonging to a person acting in co-operation with MU;
i) aggressive or disturbing behaviour, whether physical, verbal or other, which may be justifiably perceived as bullying or psychic violence or humiliating human dignity, towards a member of the academic community or an MU’s employee;
j) entering the precincts of the University or attending tuition under the influence of alcohol or addictive drugs;
k) such behaviour as may be justifiably perceived as ruining the good reputation of the Faculty.
Article 2
Disciplinary Committee
(1) The Disciplinary Committee is an independent academic body of the Faculty of Medicine.
(2) The Disciplinary Committee has 6 members. One half of members of the Committee is always constituted by students.
(3) The chairman of the Disciplinary Committee is always a member of the Disciplinary Committee.
(4) Members of the Disciplinary Committee and its chairman are nominated by the Dean from the ranks of members of the Faculty’s academic community by the approval of the Faculty’s Academic Senate. The Dean of the Faculty cannot be a member of the Disciplinary Committee.
(5) The term of office of a Disciplinary Committee member expires, unless (s)he is not discharged earlier by the Dean, by the elapse of 2 years from the date of his/her nomination.
Part Two
Disciplinary Proceedings
Article 3
Purpose of disciplinary proceedings
(1) In the disciplinary proceedings it is in particular necessary to find out or determine:
a) whether there happened an act which is considered to be a disciplinary offence;
b) whether such an act is a disciplinary offence;
c) whether the respective disciplinary offence has been committed by a student;
d) whether the respective student has already been sanctioned for any other disciplinary offence in the past;
e) whether the respective disciplinary offence may be heard before the Committee;
f) whether the respective disciplinary offence has been committed with negligence or intentionally;
g) whether and what sort of a disciplinary sanction should be imposed for the commission of the respective disciplinary offence.
Article 4
Motion to open disciplinary proceedings
(1) The disciplinary proceedings are opened if a motion has been put forward. The suggestion for a disciplinary offence to be heard is proposed to the Dean by a member of the academic community or by an employee of the Faculty. It is left up to the Dean’s consideration whether (s)he will qualify the respective suggestion as reasonable and put forward a motion to the Disciplinary Committee to open the proceedings.
(2) The motion to open disciplinary proceedings contains in particular:
a) representation of the respective act considered to be a disciplinary offence, indicating the provisions of the regulations violated according to Art. 1, and containing indication of the place and time of commission of the alleged disciplinary offence;
b) indication of the respective student supposed to have committed the act;
c) a reasoning as to why the respective act is considered to be a disciplinary offence;
d) disclosure of evidence in support of the motion.
Article 5
Circumstances impeding the hearing and disposing of disciplinary offence
A disciplinary offence cannot be heard and disposed of if the same matter has already been decided on, or if a term of one year has elapsed since a final sentence of conviction has been passed in the respective criminal case.
Article 6
The hearing of Disciplinary Committee
(1) The date of hearing of the Disciplinary Committee must be fixed so that the oral hearing and disposing of the respective offence should be commenced no later than within 30 days from the delivery to the Committee of the motion to open disciplinary proceedings. Simultaneously, the chairman of the Committee will ensure that a copy of the motion is delivered to the student against whom the disciplinary proceedings are to be conducted.
(2) The disciplinary proceedings are held in the presence of the student against whom the proceedings are conducted. The student must be duly invited to the oral hearing. The disciplinary proceedings may be held in the student’s absence only if (s)he fails to appear for the proceedings without just excuse delivered to the chairman of the Committee not later than by the time of beginning of the oral hearing and based on relevant grounds impeding his or her attendance.
(3) As a relevant ground may in particular be considered temporary disablement documented by a medical certificate attesting the student’s status of health on the day when the oral hearing is held, and from which it expressly emerges that a particular indisposition of health hinders the student from being present at the oral hearing. The Committee will judge the reasonableness of the excuse and, in case of its acceptation, will fix a new date for the hearing. The chairman of the Disciplinary Committee will ensure repeated summoning of the student.
(4) The Disciplinary Committee may interrupt the hearing by resolution if there are circumstances that render its continuation impossible (e.g., if they find that the respective student’s study has been interrupted.
Article 7
The opening and process of disciplinary proceedings
(1) The disciplinary proceedings are opened by making the student acquainted with the contents of the submitted motion to open the proceedings.
(2) At the beginning of every hearing of the Disciplinary Committee, the chairman or a member of the Committee authorised by him or her makes the attending persons acquainted with the contents of the motion to open the proceedings and presents a brief account, if any, of the results of previous hearings.
(3) The facts of the case are established by evidence produced by the Disciplinary Committee on their own impulse or on the Dean’s or the respective student’s suggestion.
(4) Each member of the Faculty’s academic community or the University’s employee is obliged to appear at the Disciplinary Committee’s request at the disciplinary proceedings and to testify about facts important for the proceedings, if his or her testimony is suggested as evidence.
Article 8
Cessation of disciplinary proceedings
(1) If the Disciplinary Committee recognises the results of the evidence produced as satisfactory for the assessment of the matter under hearing, they pass a resolution to decide on the respective disciplinary offence. In cases listed in par. (2) of this Article, the Committee will suggest to the Dean that the disciplinary proceedings should be discontinued.
(2) The Disciplinary Committee will propose that the Dean should, by his or her decision, cease the disciplinary proceedings if in its course there emerged that:
a) the respective act stated in the motion to open disciplinary proceedings either did not happen or is not a disciplinary offence;
b) the respective disciplinary offence was not committed by the student concerned;
c) the person who committed the offence either ceased to be a student (cases of termination or abandonment of studies) or
d) the offence cannot be heard and disposed of (according to Art. 5).
(3) The motion for decision on a disciplinary offence must contain the precise wording of the decision to be issued by the Dean; its integral parts must in particular include a verdict and a reasoning.
Article 9
Decision-making on disciplinary offence
(1) The decision on a disciplinary offence must contain the following:
a) designation of the University, the Faculty and its Dean;
b) the student’s first and last names, personal university ID (so-called “UČO”), place of residence;
c) the verdict of the decision by which:
- it is established that the respective student has committed a disciplinary offence (including description of the act and indicating the respective legal regulations violated), and
- either a sanction is imposed or the student is released from having a sanction imposed on him/her pursuant to Sect. 65, par. 2 of the above Act;
d) reasoning;
e) instruction regarding the student’s right to appeal to the Rector for a review of the decision, and on the terms and mode of application of said right.
(2) The student, on whose disciplinary offence a decision had been issued by the Dean of the Faculty, is entitled to appeal, within a term of 30 days from the date of delivery of the respective decision, to the Rector of Masaryk University for a review of the issued decision on the respective offence. The revision application is submitted through the Dean, who may dispose of it affirmatively and alter or cancel his or her original decision; otherwise he or she will forward the matter to the Rector for decision. The Rector’s decision is then definitive.
(3) The decision on a disciplinary offence comes into force on the day of:
a) ineffective lapse of the term for submission of an appeal for the review of the decision on the respective disciplinary offence;
b) delivery of the Rector’s decision, by which the original decision on the offence issued by the Dean is altered, cancelled, or confirmed.
Article 10
Imposition of sanctions
(1) The following sanctions may be imposed for a committed disciplinary offence:
a) admonition;
b) conditional expulsion from studies with a fixed period of time and conditions of probation, or
c) expulsion from studies, if it is obvious that the respective disciplinary offence has been committed deliberately.
(2) When imposing sanctions, account will be taken of the character of the respective disciplinary offence, the way of its commission and its consequences, the student’s motives that had led to the commission of the offence, the student’s hitherto behaviour including his or her study results, and of whether (s)he regretted having committed the offence, and/or showed an effort of will to remedy the harmful consequences caused.
(3) If a sanction of conditional expulsion from studies is imposed, the decision always explicitly involves the condition that, within the set period of time and under the sanction of expulsion from studies, the student must not commit any other disciplinary offence or any still more severe act.
(4) The imposition of a sanction may be abandoned if it can well be presumed that the treatment of the respective disciplinary offence itself is likely to lead to improvement.
(5) When imposing sanctions for more disciplinary offences, only a single sanction will be imposed.
(6) No heavier sanction may be imposed than as suggested by the Disciplinary Committee.
(7) A sanction is enforceable on the day of legal effect of the decision on the respective disciplinary offence.
(8) The disciplinary sanction imposed will be entered in the student’s study files and in his or her academic records in the Information System (IS MU).
Article 11
Execution of sanctions
(1) An admonition sanction is executed by making a record of it in the respective student’s study files.
(2) A sanction of conditional expulsion from studies is executed by making a record of it in the respective student’s study files. In addition, an authorised worker of the Office for International Studies supervises the fulfilment of the probation conditions over the fixed period of time, on which (s)he reports to the Dean. Basing on the information from the Office for International Studies the Dean evaluates whether the respective student has done well or not. In case that the student has not done well, the Dean will issue a decision thereon, for which provisions of Art. 9 will be applied accordingly. A sanction of conditional expulsion from studies along with a decision on the student’s not having done well has the effects of a sanction of expulsion from studies.
(3) A sanction of expulsion from studies is executed by terminating the respective student’s studies in all degree programmes held at the Faculty. Such termination will be effected on the day of legal force of the decision on the respective disciplinary offence.
(4) The decision on the disciplinary offence will be posted on the Faculty’s official notice board over a period of 15 days and will be made accessible by means of the electronic network of Masaryk University. The official notice board is located on the premises of the Office for International Studies.
Part Three
Rules of Procedure of Disciplinary Committee
Article 12
Internal organisation of Disciplinary Committee
(1) The chairman of the Disciplinary Committee
a) organises the activity of the Disciplinary Committee and acts on its behalf outwardly;
b) convenes, conducts, and closes the hearings of the Disciplinary Committee, proposes the order of the offences to be heard and disposed of.
(2) The Disciplinary Committee elects a vice-chairman out of its members, who, if necessary, acts as a deputy of the Committee’s chairman, in particular in the latter’s absence.
(3) The Disciplinary Committee closely co-operates with the Faculty’s Office for International Studies, which provides the necessary information about students and the entire co-operation needed to the Committee. The hearings of the Committee are attended by a person authorised by the Dean, as a rule an official of the Office for International Studies, who
a) takes part in the organisation of the Committee’s activity;
b) takes the minutes of the hearings of the Disciplinary Committee;
c) administratively processes further written materials and documents of the Committee;
d) ensures that a written copy of the Dean’s decision on the respective disciplinary offence is made and duly dispatched;
e) provides the Disciplinary Committee with information about the state of study of the respective student whose disciplinary offence is being heard and disposed of;
f) informs the Disciplinary Committee of whether the respective student has already been sanctioned in the past for commission of a disciplinary offence, and
g) reports to the Dean on whether the respective student fulfils the probation conditions stipulated in the Dean’s decision on the disciplinary offence issued when imposing the sanction of conditional expulsion.
Article 13
The hearing of Disciplinary Committee
(1) The hearing of the Disciplinary Committee is always open to the public, with the exception of meetings and voting on draft resolutions. However, oral hearings may not be attended by those members of the academic community who have been summoned, pursuant to Art. 7, par. 8, to appear for submission of a testimony, unless they had already been heard by the Disciplinary Committee.
(2) The chairman of the Disciplinary Committee is responsible for the taking of the minutes from every hearing.
Article 14
Decision-making of Disciplinary Committee
(1) The Disciplinary Committee takes decisions on matters appertaining to its powers and competences by adopting resolutions.
(2) The Committee has a quorum if a majority of its members are in attendance. If one half of the present members of the Committee is not constituted by students, the chairperson will adjourn the hearing if any one of the Committee’s members so proposes. The Committee’s resolution is accepted if the majority of its present members have declared for it.
(3) For a resolution of the Disciplinary Committee to be accepted, the approval of a majority of the present members of the Committee is required; the acceptance of a resolution that might result in the imposition and execution of a sanction of expulsion from studies requires approval of the majority of all members of the Disciplinary Committee.
(4) In case of equality of votes the vote of the chairperson of the Disciplinary Committee shall be decisive.
Part Four
General Provisions
Article 15
Terms
(1) If the term for the execution of a certain act within the disciplinary proceedings is not fixed by any internal regulation, such term shall be fixed by the Disciplinary Committee.
(2) If the end of the term falls on a rest day, the next following working day is considered to be the end of the term.
(3) The Disciplinary Committee in the disciplinary proceedings, and the Dean or Rector in the proceedings for a revision of the decision about a disciplinary offence, may remit default of a term caused by serious reasons if the respective application includes the petition that should have been brought. In such a case, the day on which the default of the term was remitted is considered to be the day of delivery of the petition.
Article 16
Delivery
(1) Written materials and documents issued during individual acts pursuant to the present internal regulation shall be delivered via the Faculty’s Dean’s Office by a recorded delivery/registered letter with a delivery note, unless such materials and documents were not delivered directly when performing such acts.
(2) Written materials and documents are delivered by recorded delivery into one’s own hands
a) if they concern the following:
b) an invitation for a student to appear at a disciplinary proceeding;
c) a decision about a disciplinary offence;
d) a decision about the revision of a decision on a disciplinary offence;
e) a decision stating that a respective student, on whom a sanction of conditional expulsion from studies had been imposed, has not done well within the set term;
f) if it is so stipulated by the body issuing the respective material or document.
(3) The day of taking delivery by the addressee is understood to be the day of delivery of the respective material or document. Should the addressee refuse to receive the respective material or document, this has the effect of reception thereof.
(4) If a material or document cannot be delivered pursuant to par. 1 or par. 2, such material or document shall be delivered by posting it on the Faculty’s official notice board over a period of 8 days (alternative delivery). The last day of this term is understood to be the day of delivery of the respective material or document.
(5) Alternative delivery is excluded if it is delivery of a decision about a disciplinary offence (cf. par. 2a), items 2., 3., 4.).
Part Five
Concluding Provisions
Article 17
Concluding Provisions
(1) This Disciplinary Code was approved by the Academic Senate of the MU Faculty of Medicine on 10 March 2009.
(2) This Disciplinary Code was approved, pursuant to Sect. 9, par. 1, item b) of Act No. 111/1998 Coll., by the Academic Senate of Masaryk University on 06 April 2009.
(3) This Disciplinary Code comes into force and becomes effective on the date of its approval by the Academic Senate of Masaryk University. As of the same date, the Disciplinary Code of the MU Faculty of Medicine, approved by the MU Academic Senate on 15 November 1999, is annulled.
Professor MUDr. Jan Žaloudík, CSc., m. p.,
Dean