The rectorate of the University of Luxembourg is facing a legal challenge from Christos Koulovatianos, former head of the FDEF finance department, whose lawyer says his client is being sanctioned for flagging irregularities.
After the dean of the Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance (FDEF) at the University of Luxembourg resigned at the end of April, the rectorate removed the head of the finance department, Christos Koulovatianos, from his post. That decision was the subject of an administrative appeal on Friday.
Surprising details emerged beyond the argument over whether the court had jurisdiction at all, given that staff hold private-law contracts while working for a public institution. The real intrigue was over the grounds for Koulovatianos' dismissal. Romain Adam, the university's lawyer, told reporters after the hearing that the university had the right to withdraw the department head's mandate ad nutum – at its own discretion.
That means, Adam explained, that if the rectorate takes the view that the person is no longer the right fit, it can withdraw the mandate. In Koulovatianos' case, he emphasised, the university had nothing to hold against him directly. The point, he said, was that with the dean's post now vacant, the rectorate believed a new head of department should also be chosen, in order to achieve genuine renewal across the department as a whole.
A loss of confidence, he added, was sufficient grounds for such a decision, and no specific reason needed to be...
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