Handlungsoptionen und Opferschutz bei Machtmissbrauch an Hochschulen – eine Bestands- und Bedarfserfassung für NRW

Academic staff at universities are particularly dependent on superiors and vulnerable to abuse of power. This is because the potential for abuse extends beyond the university itself. Universities must therefore be structurally more vigilant than other authorities or sectors when it comes to relationships of dependency. University lecturers who are accused of poor personnel management and abuse of power in the broadest sense are more protected from countermeasures by the university than other civil servants due to special legal and organisational features. This does not seem justified on the merits. In the event of specific abuse of power, universities must (1) take immediate measures to protect victims in the workplace and (2) penalise breaches of duty in disciplinary proceedings. The instruments in question originate primarily from general civil service law and disciplinary law. The regulations on this are partly fragmented and partly difficult to apply. In addition, there is an unclear relationship between victim protection and academic freedom; moreover, there is often a lack of empirical knowledge at this legal interface. Universities need certainty of action overall, above all through clear legal rules. There is an urgent need to create a better legal basis for victim protection measures in civil service law. Victims of abuse also need protection from revictimisation in disciplinary proceedings. As victim protection is not provided for in disciplinary law, a procedural victim status should be anchored there with protective instruments modelled on those in criminal procedural law.