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Campus of the University of Potsdam: The state's refusal to pay is "scandalous and incompatible with the rule of law"
Photo: imago / Joko
The former Brandenburg students actually have the law on their side: the Federal Constitutional Court ruled in 2017 that the re-registration fees charged at the universities in Brandenburg from 2001 to 2008 were unconstitutional.
The Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court subsequently sentenced the state to repay the fees including interest in a test case.
And yet Brandenburg refused to reimburse the money on request: According to the fee schedule, the claim is statute-barred.
Another student is suing - and the Potsdam Administrative Court ruled that the state had to reimburse her 765.65 euros plus interest.
However, the court allowed an appeal, but made it clear: The period of limitation only begins with the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court.
"Scandalous and incompatible with the rule of law"
Student representative Jonathan Wiegers
"Since the state continues to refuse, the statute of limitations now threatens to actually come into effect on December 31, 2020," the Brandenburg student council announced - and is preparing a mass lawsuit together with the Education and Science Union (GEW).
The step is necessary because all other efforts and the political pressure of the past few months have come to nothing, said the spokesman for the Brandenburg student council, Jonathan Wiegers.
The country's refusal to pay is "scandalous and incompatible with the rule of law, which is why we are now exploring the possibilities of how all those affected can take legal action."
The problem: the former students would have to sue at their own risk.
Alternatively, a litigation cost financier could be involved, but if successful, he would retain around 30 percent of the sum and only take action from around 200 plaintiffs.
In a survey, the student representatives are currently sounding out how many people affected would join a lawsuit.
"We are on the right track," said the head of the higher education department at GEW Brandenburg, Fred Albrecht.
He is confident that at least 200 former students will take part.
In theory, the number could be in the thousands: There are around 50,000 students in Brandenburg every year.
According to Albrecht, the total re-registration fee is around 30 million euros.
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