External Legal Advisory Service on the Abuse of Power
Following North Rhine-Westphalia’s higher education institutions' joint declaration of commitment to dealing with the abuse of power in academia, a central external legal advisory service was established to support internal university entities and individuals affected by the abuse of power. Responsibility for implementing this service was assigned to the lawyer Martina Lörsch. Together with her colleagues, she offers independent initial legal advice across all types of higher education institution. The team also helps affected individuals and internal university entities to assess incidents from a legal perspective and provides guidance on possible reporting and complaint procedures.
This service is available to:
- all members of public higher education institutions, including students and employees, as well as staff at university hospitals, and
- internal university points of contact and advisory services, such as equal opportunities officers, anti-discrimination officers, or AStA advisory services.
The service includes:
- confidential, independent, and, if requested, anonymous legal advice (it does not include legal representation, lawyer-client relationship, or the legal examination of facts);
- information about rights, obligations, and possible complaint procedures, (e.g. complaints under the General Act on Equal Treatment (Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz, AGG) or disciplinary complaints), as well as the possible consequences (e.g. in the framework of workshops or training seminars);
- guidance on further internal and external support services;
- support, especially in cases where internal advisory services are no longer sufficient or where confidence in them has been lost.
The advisory service is intended as a complementary resource. It does not replace internal university structures but offers support where those structures reach their limits.
Contact
Legal Advisory Service on the Abuse of Power
E-mail: info@rechtsberatung-machtmissbrauch.nrw
Website: https://rechtsberatung-machtmissbrauch.nrw/ (only available in German)
Telephone: +49 221 973 128 53
(Mon, Wed, Thu and Fri 09:00 am to 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm)