Advice & Assistance for Student Appeals (CARE)
In order to respond to numerous requests, the FAE set up in autumn 2015 the Advice & Assistance to Student Appeals (CARE) service to help UNIL students who wish to file an appeal against a decision relating to their studies at UNIL (grades, final failure, exmatriculation, etc.), free of charge, throughout the appeal procedure. This service now makes it possible to help students who encounter a legal issue, regardless of the area of law in question (residence permit, tenancy law, etc.).
To benefit from legal advice, simply fill in the form below and provide as much information as possible about your situation. One of the member lawyers, a Master of Law student, will then
Composition of the CARE
Céline Grobétyy-Olivier, administrative head
Alan Mazzagatti, legal head
Joël Badel
Hélène Belli
Delphine Bonzon
Jasmine Brantschen
Léonard Euler
Alexia Ferri
Noémie Gabriel
Eva Lecompte
Lena Martin
Cédric Mottier
Nathalie Noth
Lucile Pasche
Tarek Patawi
Andreia Santos Silva
Frank Treier
Honorary members
Sara Andrade
Alice Barras
Donatien Baumann
Olivia Dulex
Pauline Freudiger
Shayna Häusler
Danai Katsa
Sébastien Lecoultre
Joachim Léger
Laetitia Léger
Sarah Novet
Malik Oudina
Loïc Pillard
Charlotte Pittet
Loïc Pittet
Anaëlle Pont
Florim Rexhepi
Pauline Sauge
Juliette Tarussio
Kevin Togni
Olivia Troger
Important information for appeals
1. An appeal cannot be drafted in 10 minutes. It is important to allow enough time for the lawyer to understand your case and to have time to build a correct argumentation before the deadline for appeal; moreover, it is important to keep in mind that the lawyer does not have absolute availability: he/she also has several other cases to deal with in parallel. Therefore, contact us as soon as possible!
2. It is important to read the examination regulations of your Faculty as soon as possible, which are available on the website of your Faculty. Do not forget to read the official emails carefully! If necessary, the secretariat of your Faculty can answer your questions.
3. In general, the grounds for an appeal should be based on formal aspects: e.g. the question asked was not related to the course, the question was changed during the exam, the wording was not clear enough and no one was able to give you indications to clear up the vagueness, the time allowed for answering the question was not respected, there was a lot of noise during the examination or during the preparation of the examination, the instructions concerning the authorised material were not respected, etc.
4. If you argue your appeal on more subjective grounds, such as personal reasons, it will be much more difficult to win your case.
5. Do not forget that you have the right to consult your tests; if necessary, contact your Faculty to find out how to do so. If, after reading your exam papers, you have any questions about the written remarks on your papers (or the lack of them), you can always make an appointment with the teacher.
6. En ce qui concerne les retards d’inscriptions aux examens et aux enseignements, les chances de succès du recours sont extrêmement faibles. Au-delà du délai d’inscription, il est possible de s’inscrire tardivement dans un délai supplémentaire moyennant le paiement d’une surtaxe de CHF 200.- (ce délai supplémentaire correspond généralement aux deux semaines suivant l’expiration du délai ordinaire) ; passé cet ultime délai, seuls des motifs impérieux permettent de procéder à une inscription encore plus tardive (par ex. cas de force majeure comme une hospitalisation, etc.).
Appeal authorities and deadlines
In order, the appeal instances are :
- The Faculty (30 days) – no fee
- The Direction (10 days) – CHF 150.00 fee
- The UNIL Appeals Commission (10 days) – CHF 300.00 fee
The time limit begins to run on the day following the notification, i.e. the first day of the time limit corresponds to the day following the official publication of the marks or the day following the receipt of the decision you wish to contest. An appeal sent after the deadline is deemed inadmissible: the authority that should decide will consider that the person did not send an appeal and will therefore not bother to read it, even if the appeal arrived “only” 1 minute late!
The institution to which the appeal should be directed is indicated on the letter received: e.g. appeals concerning exams should be addressed to the Dean’s Office of the Faculty, while appeals concerning enrolment should be addressed to the Direction. If a body refuses the appeal, you can appeal against this new decision to the higher body.
NB: It is possible to be exempted from the appeal fees provided that you can prove that your financial situation does not allow you to pay them.