Verfassungsrechtliche Grundlagen der Hochschulreform in Österreich – eine Zwischenbilanz

In 2002, the Austrian »Universitätsgesetz 2002« was enacted. The legal framework governing both – the organisation of the universities and the regulations regarding studies of all 21 state universities – was newly amended. The purpose of the reform was the transformation of previously state run organisations into autonomous, efficient institutions having their own responsibility. The purpose was meant to have been achieved by the following measures: the universities were given full legal personality; the governance of the universities by the republic was decreased, measures concerning the organisation of the universities were more centralised and improvements regarding measures effecting the management of the universities through New-Public-Management methods were introduced. Both – the legal measures concerning the organisation of the universities and the management and control of the universities by means of a contract under public law (the »Leistungsvereinbarung« between the state and the universities) – were highly controversial and were strongly criticized from a constitutional point of view leading to challenges of the constitutionality of the Act. The constitutional court upheld the organisational rules – in as far as they were challenged – for valid, it had, however, concerns regarding the lacking due process with regard to the »Leistungsvereinbarung«, so that the respective provisions were revoked, thereby necessitating an amendment of the Act. Another new amendment was necessary because the European Court of Justices deemed the act as adverse for the community because of the incompatibility of certain admission restrictions for students who had graduated from non-Austrian high schools – a new quota system in conjunction with the already existing admissions exam in certain studies has been planed for the next semester. The university reform in Austria with the enactment of the new university law has however not yet been completed, more changes of measures concerning the organisational regulations and the measures concerning the studies are to be expected.