Media: Law School Professor fired for plagiarism

Media: Law School Professor fired for plagiarism

Belgrade Law School has dismissed full professor Aleksandar Jaksic for plagiarizing textbooks on Private International Law, Vecernje Novosti reports.

By law, Jaksic's employment contract will be terminated within eight days deadline, on February 13th.

"In the fall 2019, Professor Jaksic was confirmed the pronounced measure of public condemnation for plagiarizing textbooks in the subject of Private International Law, which made the decision on pronouncement of public condemnation final. Then what was known at the Faculty of Law was officially confirmed , which is that Professor Jaksic plagiarized "his" textbook.

It was then decided to thoroughly examine the consequences of such public condemnation on the Faculty of Law", Dean Zoran Mirkovic explains for "Novosti". According to university regulations, the immediate consequence of a public condemnation is the loss of the title of the one to whom it was pronounced and the dean instituted such proceedings. However, the dismissal is not directly related to the sentencing, the newspaper said.

"The reason for the dismissal is a violation of the reputation of the Faculty of Law by Professor Jaksic, caused by the fact that, as a result of the public condemnation, the decision finally finding him plagiarized was read at the sessions of the University Senate and all academic and scientific councils of all faculties and institutes within University of Belgrade", Dean Mirkovic emphasizes. "Professor Jaksic has thereby damaged the reputation of our faculty to the extent that, under the current Rules of Procedure, it requires the imposition of a measure of termination of an employment contract, especially given that the professor has already been penalized with implementing milder measures because of other violations," the dean said.

The Administrative Court overturned the decision of the University Ethics Committee at the end of 2019, and Professor Mirkovic explains that, given that the Administrative Court's decision, by the nature of the matter, relates to procedural failures and not to the substance, it did not dispute the fact that the book of Professor Jaksic has been plagiarized.