In a press release [de], the minister criticises that the decision does not conform with the Landeshochschulgesetz (State Higher Education Law - LHG) which stipulates that the Reduced Senate (engerer Senat) has to make a prior decision as to whether the proposal to change the Basic Regulations should be passed on to the Extended Senate (erweiterter Senat). This is the first time that a procedure using an experimental clause, that has been practised since 2011, has been rejected. This procedure has never previously been questioned, neither by the juridical colleagues in the Senate, including former Rector, Prof. Dr. Jürgen Kohler, nor by the Ministry.
Of course the University’s governance and the Senate accept the Ministry’s decision. The Senate is now able to hold a new vote to propose a change to the name of the University in the form stipulated by the LHG.
What is decisive is that the requested change to the Basic Regulations was only refused on formal grounds; the Ministry, however, has no objection from a material point of view. This means that the Ministry confirms that the University is entitled to determine its name in the Basic Regulations.
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