Report: Rector's actions were legal

The long-awaited report on the Penkowa case lets the University management off the hook, concluding that they did not act illegally.

The 675 page-long report was released today at noon, immediately followed by a press conference.

The management could have handled several issues better, the report says. But even though they acted with bad judgement, a dismissal of Rector Ralf Hemmingsen is not justified, the report concludes.

Acted correctly based on information at hand

According to the report, there is no evidence that non-objective criteria influenced the management’s relationship to Penkowa.

Taking into account the information available at the time, the management cannot be criticized for its handling of the case, the report writes.

Karsten Hagel-Sørensen, who holds the Kammeradvokaten office, finishes off his summary of the report quoting Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard: »Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.«

Call for independent inquest

The University’s Board of Executives had originally requested the legal report to find out whether the management contravened proper procedures in the handling of the case.

Even before seeing the report, many were critical of the fact that the inquest was to be conducted by the University’s own legal advisor, Kammeradvokaten.

Hundreds of university staff and students have signed petitions calling for an independent, Penkowa inquest.

Read Kammeradvokaten’s report (in Danish) here

Uni-avis@adm.ku.dk

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