The Brno Regional Court has ruled that Masaryk University’s previous requirement for students to be vaccinated, tested or recovered from Covid-19 in order to attend classes during the pandemic was in fact illegal. Photo: Campus Bohunice. Credit: Masaryk University
Brno, June 18 (DD) – From the end of November 2021 until Christmas, Brno’s Masaryk University restricted access to classes according to the O-N-T system, i.e., vaccination, recent recovery from illness, or a negative test from Covid-19. This week, the Brno Regional Court declared such a requirement illegal, as announced by court spokeswoman Klára Belkovová.
A medical student took the university to court, objecting to having to be tested when vaccinated people were not required to do so, even if they may have been infectious, as explained by lawyer Zuzana Candigliota in a statement. University spokesman Radim Sajbot said the university will await the written statement and delivery of the ruling. “The regional court granted the plaintiff’s request and issued a ruling declaring the university’s intervention illegal,” said Belkovova, without giving further details.
Three other students have approached the court and are awaiting a decision. “According to these students, the university did not have the legal authority to implement the system, and was also disadvantaging unvaccinated students and creating pressure to vaccinate, forcing the unvaccinated to undergo regular testing, mostly at their own expense,” said Candigliota.
If unvaccinated students did not want to be tested, they could not take part in full-time classes, and distance education was not provided. “We didn’t file the lawsuit just because we thought the university was acting illegally and disadvantaging a certain group of students based on that, but also because we wanted to show others that it’s important not to be afraid and stand up to authority, which in this case is the university,” said the medical student, who wishes to remain anonymous.
The university has not yet commented. “The university administration has taken note that the court does not seem to have sided with our position on this administrative action. However, at the moment we have to wait for the drafting and delivery of the ruling, the full text of which will be reviewed by our lawyers, and only then will we be able to comment on the university’s next course of action in this matter,” Sajbot said.
