JISC Legal

The EU has taken a step towards common rules for cracking down on those who sexually abuse children and post images of the abuse on the internet.

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The Scottish Information Commissioner pilots a single model publication scheme for public authorities from Feb 2011.

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Tweets should be considered public and can be published, the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) has ruled. 

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This bill seeks to amend current defamation legislation and is progressing through Parliament. The main focus of the bill is to make sure that defamation legislation is fit for modern times.

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The Freedom of Information (Amendment Bill) is currently making its way through Parliament and is due to be further debated on the 18th March 2011.

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A group of universities plans to draw together existing free online learning materials from around the world and create degree programmes.

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 The 'examination exception', in s.32(3) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 states that ... (cont)

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Accessibility is an ongoing issue for the use of ICT in FE and HE and JISC Techdis has launched two funding competitions for innovative approaches to assistive technologies.

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We have recently added two law watch notices to our website which will be of interest to those responsible for institutional information governance.

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The first undertaking under Freedom of information includes a requirement for mandatory advance training which may have wider implications for the education sector.

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Loss of two unencrypted laptops containing sensitive personal information results in monetary penalties.

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This unit deals with immigration law as it affects the employment of staff and obtaining staff and student visas.  There is considerable emphasis on the procedures that need to be followed in order to comply with the law.

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The first half of this unit, on student unions, has been designed to offer guidance to higher education institutions on some of the legal issues connected with student unions and the relationship between unions and the institutions of which they are part or with which they are connected. 

The second half of the unit concerns student clubs.  This offers guidance to higher education institutions on general legal issues arising from the running and organisation of student clubs and their relationship with their institutions.  The unit does not deal with the special rules which apply to regulated activities such as rifle-shooting or flying, nor with the provisions of the Licensing and Gaming Acts.

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This unit has been designed to assist higher education institutions in evaluation of risks associated with student placements, both at home and overseas, together with recommendations for management of such risks.  The unit does not extend to issues arising in respect of franchise arrangements or other activities outside a programme of study, such as term-time or vacation work.

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This unit discusses how institutions should deal with disciplinary allegations against students.  It also deals with the steps institutions should take to ensure that those obtaining professional qualifications are fit to practise.

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This unit discusses how institutions should deal with students who owe them money.  Debts will mainly relate to tuition fees and payments for accommodation.  The unit discusses legal limits on the steps institutions are entitled to take to recover the money.  The aim is to be sympathetic to students in need, but to recover debts wherever possible.

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This unit has been designed to assist higher education institutions to evaluate their contractual relationship with their students and to manage attendant risks.  For advice on contractual disputes and litigation, please see Unit 8 on student complaints.  The charters referred to are those student charters adopted by some institutions to clarify the objectives of the institution and the legitimate expectations of the students.

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This unit provides an overview of the key areas of law that relate to an individual's use of an institution's computing facilities, but it is not intended to be a detailed examination of all aspects of the relevant areas of law.  This unit also covers the law relating to the investigation of computers and how this has been affected by recent legislation, such as the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.

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This unit considers how higher education institutions can address student complaints effectively.  It emphasises the importance of resolving complaints at the point where they arise, and discusses how complaints can be managed satisfactorily as they progress through the institution's complaints procedure.

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This unit has been designed to assist higher education institutions in devising appropriate contractual arrangements with students for accommodation provided in university or college premises.  It is not designed to assist in giving advice to students taking accommodation in the private sector.  Some of the principles will apply to other letting arrangements, for example, staff accommodation, but separate advice should be sought in these areas.  This unit does not deal with the issue of rent arrears and their collection.  This is the subject of Unit 3 (Student Debt).

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This unit outlines risks that institutions may face in relation to grievances by employees, and offers guidance on how those risks may be reduced.  It should be read in conjunction with other units in this project, for example those on bullying and stress, equal opportunities and equal pay.

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This unit provides an overview of the law relating to staff contracts, including guidelines as to what should be included in a contract and a summary of the different types of contract which an institution may use for different patterns of employment among staff.

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This unit covers employment law and other relevant legislation, as it affects discipline within the workplace and dismissal on disciplinary grounds.  Although much of the unit is relevant for both chartered and statutory institutions, the authors have highlighted differences where relevant.

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This unit is intended to provide guidance notes, checklists and specimen policies in respect of the management of staff sickness absence.  The checklist is designed to raise awareness of more common pitfalls. The specimen policy offers a suggested procedure for dealing with sickness absence, although it will need to be adapted to the particular features of the user's institution.

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This unit discusses research conduct.  It gives checklists to assist in establishing good research practice and procedures for dealing with allegations of research misconduct.

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This Unit indicates legal risks that may arise when an institution makes staff redundant, and suggests ways in which those risks may be reduced.

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This unit describes what is meant by public interest disclosure (or whistleblowing) and discusses the circumstances in which it might occur.  It gives checklists to minimise the likely occurrence of inappropriate disclosures and to assist in establishing good practice and procedure in dealing with public interest disclosures.  It also describes the circumstances in which those making such disclosures will have employment protection under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998.

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This unit addresses issues which are likely to concern higher education institutions in the rapidly developing area of flexible working practices and part-time working.

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This unit considers issues of relevance to an institution's policy on outside work.  Outside work covers activities and appointments of employees which are related to their work and likely to take up their working time, but which are not explicitly covered as duties under their employment contracts. 

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This unit covers legal and risk management issues concerning the employment of staff on fixed term contracts, with particular reference to contract research staff. 

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This unit considers the vulnerability of institutions to equal pay claims.  It discusses the steps they might take to reduce the risk of such claims, while at the same time implementing good employment practices.  However measures taken to reduce the likelihood of equal pay claims carry other kinds of risk, which need to be managed.

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This unit covers the promotion of equality and the avoidance of discrimination on the grounds of race, sex, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief, and age in relation to an institution's relationship with its students.

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This unit covers the promotion of equality and the avoidance of discrimination on the grounds of race, sex, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief, and age in relation to an institution's relationship with its staff. Unit 10 covers these issues in relation to students.

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This unit examines risks which may arise from the engagement of external consultants (as defined) and agency staff, and suggests ways of reducing those risks.

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The first half of this unit covers maternity rights, paternity rights and parental leave entitlement for employees.  The second half deals with the law relating to children as it might affect higher education institutions, in particular research involving children, child protection issues, including staff checks through the Criminal Records Bureau, the civil law of negligence and students under the age of 18.

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This first part of this unit looks at issues surrounding bullying and harassment in the institutional environment, whether it affects staff or students (sections 1 to 6).  The second part (section 7 onwards) deals with the issues surrounding occupational stress.

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This unit considers how higher education institutions can avoid disputes about academic assessment and examinations.  Please also see Units 1 (Student contracts and charters), 7 (Student discipline and fitness to practise) and 8 (Student complaints procedures).

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The European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) has published its report ‘Security and Resilience in Governmental Clouds’ which assesses the operational, legal, and security requirements of cloud computing.

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Those of you concerned with accessibility issues in the use of technology will be interested to visit the new website of our sister organisation, JISC Techdis.

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The Bill proposes to extend the number of public authorities subject to its provisions and this includes the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council and the General Teaching Council for Scotland but university and colleges are not currently included.

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Report published on proposals to revise publication schemes.

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 This newsletter is also available in Word and PDF. ...

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In light of Data Protection Day, the Information Commissioner’s Office has re-launched this popular guidance document offering tips on how to protect personal data online.

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A Statutory Instrument has been set out on costs sharing for rights holders and ISPs in implementing the Digital Economy Act. 

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A recent report from the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee states that FOI law as it applies to scientific research is confused and needs urgent resolution.

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The Cloud Industry Forum has launched a Code of Practice for cloud service providers.

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The IPO has announced this competition to provide additional awards of funds to encourage and support projects which show innovative ways of managing intellectual property.

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The High Court recently decided, in relation to copyright law, that the term ‘making available’ to the public, that the 'making available' happens where the servers send the files, rather than where received.

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The Risk Management Calculator will help gauge the risks associated with publishing open educational materials.

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In an Israeli court case this month, the user of Creative Commons licensed photographs was found to have infringed copyright by creating and selling collages using those images without complying with the CC BY-NC-ND licence's conditions.

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