The appeal, formalized by cassation filed by the University of Granada (UGR) before the Supreme Court (TS) following the ruling of the Administrative Disagreement Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA) nullifying the decision of this academic institution to suspend its academic and scientific cooperation with Israeli institutions, appeals to the autonomy of the University as a fundamental right entitling it to adopt an agreement that it does not consider “discriminatory”.
This is what the TSJA found, which also indicated that it contained procedures that “violate fundamental rights”, which the academic institution in Granada also denies, according to sources consulted by Europa Press in UGR in connection with the appeal it filed on November 4, within the period stipulated for it since the Andalusian Supreme Court issued its ruling.
The same sources warned that “the rights to equality and moral integrity were not violated” and that their interpretation in the ruling after the decision adopted by the UGR Board of Directors was not “correct.”
In response to a question from the media on 24 September about this matter on the day of the reception of students at the beginning of the session, the Rector of UGR, Pedro Mercado, explained that with “utmost respect” for the judicial rulings, the legal team of the academic institution had evaluated the arguments of the ruling to prepare this appeal with the ultimate aim of defending “the values that inspire the University itself”.
In the TSJA ruling, consulted by Europa Press, the Andalusian Supreme Court in September upheld the appeal by the Association for Action and Communication in the Middle East (ACOM) and overturned the ruling in March of the Contested Administrative Court No. 3 of Granada, which had upheld the legality of the UGR decision.
This educational institution suspended its academic and scientific cooperation with Israeli institutions in May 2024 in response to the mobilization of students, the educational community and civil society.
Specifically, incoming and outgoing movement of students, faculty, research, technical, administrative, administrative and service personnel at Israeli universities was suspended. As well as scientific and technical cooperation with Israeli institutions, as well as many agreements with universities in the region.
For the TSJA, the UGR, “under the pretext of its university autonomy,” issued “a discriminatory agreement that also violates the dignity of the person with regard to the right to moral integrity of those affected, whom it stigmatizes – warns – because, in a way, it holds people responsible for the conflict and excludes them from university life without even knowing their opinion on the current state of the conflict.”
The TSJA emphasized that in doing so, the University of Granada transmits to public opinion “a negative opinion of itself, which places it vis-à-vis the rest of the population and generates a danger,” which it considers “extremely dangerous from an educational institution of such importance as a public university.”
“The autonomy of universities does not exclude restrictions imposed by other fundamental rights, and we consider that statements on current political issues of public institutions outside the scope of their specific competence are contrary to the law if they contain, as is the case, actions that violate fundamental rights,” the ruling added.
The Contested Administrative Tribunal No. 3 of Granada upheld the suspension in March 2025, confirming that the University of Granada had acted within its university autonomy and that this action did not constitute discrimination, but rather a proportionate response and in accordance with international humanitarian law, although the TSJA overturned this authorization.