Guide disciplinary procedure for complaints submitted up to and including 12 September 2025 (Disciplinary Regulations of 7 May 2021)
A disciplinary procedure is an internal sanctioning procedure in which it is investigated and decided whether a staff member or a student has committed a serious misconduct. If the facts are proven, a disciplinary measure will be imposed. The sole purpose and outcome of a disciplinary procedure is therefore to impose a sanction on a staff member or student who has committed a serious misconduct.
Through the FAQ below, we will guide you through the process of a disciplinary procedure at Ghent University. If you cannot find an answer to your question or if you wish to discuss a particular case, please contact legal@UGent.be.
What are disciplinary offences?
Disciplinary offences are serious shortcomings in the official duty for staff or serious misconduct in the context of activities and actions as a student. Those who encourage others to commit disciplinary offences or cooperate in them may also be subject to a disciplinary procedure. Disciplinary offences are not listed restrictively. Some examples: transgressive behavior, discrimination, racism, violence, stalking, theft, vandalism, falsification, fraud, violation of the regulations of Ghent University, etc.
Serious offences committed in a private context may also give rise to a disciplinary procedure if the following conditions are cumulatively met: a) the act constitues a criminally punishable act and b) the incident has a negative impact on the staff member's functioning or on the functioning of the service, or it has a serious adverse effect on the well-being of, or cooperation with other staff members or students (for example, in relation to teaching activities, internships, life in a student housing)
Only facts that occured within the past five years may give rise to a disciplinary procedure, unless they are criminal offences that are not yet criminally time-barred.
What disciplinary measures may be imposed?
The following disciplinary measures can be imposed on staff members:
1° a written warning
2° suspension (maximum of 6 months) (potentially withholding of the salary/scholarship up to maximum of 1/5th)
3° a demotion
4° dismissal / termination of the scholarship agreement
5° expulsion (i.e. dismissal with loss of civil servant’s pension)
The following disciplinary measures can be imposed on students:
1° a written warning
2° the temporary prohibition from using certain services or educational and research support facilities (maximum of 2 academic years)
3° temporary prohibition from participating in certain educational and research activities (maximum of 2 academic years)
4° temporary prohibition from accessing certain shared areas in the student housing where the student concerned resides (for example, all or certain shared spaces) and/or the transfer to another room in a student housing
5° temporary suspension of the lease in the student hostel
6° normal disciplinary suspension (maximum of 2 academic years)
7° disciplinary suspension including suspension from the examinations (maximum of 2 academic years)
8° expulsion from Ghent University (maximum of 10 academic years)
In combination with one of the abovementioned disciplinary measures, the disciplinary body may impose an individual behavioral remedy measure (for example, attending a course, following therapy,…), the non-compliance of which may, where applicable, may result in a more severe disciplinary measure than the one initially imposed.
Who can file a complaint, and how to do so?
Students can file a complaint for acts committed by a staff member or a student.
Staff members can file a complaint for acts committed by a staff member or a student.
Persons outside Ghent University may also file a complaint for acts committed by a staff member or a student.
You can submit a complaint with the rector. There are no formal requirements. You may send an e-mail to legal@UGent.be. Please identify the staff member or student against whom you are submitting your complaint and describe the facts and alleged offences as concretely as possible, preferably supported by documents (for example, e-mails, written testimonies, ...) that you attach to your complaint.
What happens to my complaint?
You will receive a confirmation of receipt. The rector will conduct a preliminary investigation which will take a maximum of six months, depending on the information and documents that may still be missing and persons who need to be heard first. As part of the preliminary investigation, the rector may hear the staff member or student alleged to have committed the disciplinary offence, as well as the complainant and witnesses, but this is not an obligation.
The rector is assisted and legally advised during the preliminary investigation.
The rector decides whether or not to refer the matter to the Disciplinary Board (staff) or the Disciplinary Committee (students). If no referral is made, the disciplinary procedure ends. However, other measures (to ensure orderly conduct) or (remedial) actions can be decided or proposed. If a referral is made, the Disciplinary Board/Disciplinary Committee will examine the merits of the case and take a disciplinary decision, either finding the disciplinary offence to be proven or not and imposing a disciplinary measure, where appropriate.
You will be informed of every significant step in the procedure by the case manager (see also the answer to the question, "Will I be informed of the disciplinary procedure and disciplinary decision?").
Can a disciplinary procedure be initiated without a complaint?
The rector can also initiate a disciplinary investigation on their own initiative, without a complaint being submitted, and decide to refer the case to the Disciplinary Board (staff) / Disciplinary Committee (students). This may occur, for example, when serious facts against a staff member or student have been objectively established by central or faculty services of Ghent University and reported to the rector, or have been made public in the press. The procedure is completely similar, except that there will be no complainant in the procedure.
How does the disciplinary procedure for the Disciplinary Board/Disciplinary Committee proceed?
The Disciplinary Board (staff) / Disciplinary Committee (students) will compile a disciplinary file. One or more hearings will be held during which the person concerned, any complainant and witnesses may be heard.
You may therefore also be summoned as a complainant or as a witness to be heard. You are not obliged to respond (for example, if you have already provided a full written statement or testimony and do not wish to be questioned orally). In principle, this hearing is done in a contradictory manner, which means that the person concerned is present. A complainant or witness who absolutely does not want this must inform the Disciplinary Board/Disciplinary Committee which will then consider what is possible. In any case, the staff member or student concerned will always have access to the reports of hearing that will be added to the disciplinary file.
At the final hearing (if several hearings are held), the case is taken into consideration and within a maximum period of four months, the Disciplinary Board/Disciplinary Committee will issue a motivated disciplinary decision. The disciplinary decision can be implemented once the appeal period has expired without an appeal being lodged (see also the answer to the question "Can I appeal against the disciplinary decision?").
Can I remain anonymous in the disciplinary procedure?
Anonymity in disciplinary procedures is a complex matter. We guide you and provide as much information as possible, but if you feel uncertain about this, please contact legal@UGent.be.
As a complainant or witness, you must always identify yourself to the rector. You cannot submit an anonymous complaint or testimony. However, you can ask to remain anonymous towards the staff member or student concerned against whom you wish to provide testimony.
However, you cannot ask to be heard anonymously by a Disciplinary Board/Disciplinary Committee nor can you ask that your written testimony be anonymized before the Disciplinary Board/Disciplinary Committee (that is, where the Disciplinary Board/Disciplinary Committee knows your identity, but you ask not to disclose your identity to the staff member or student concerned). After all, the disciplinary decision taken by the Disciplinary Board/Disciplinary Committee is based on a disciplinary file which must be identical to the one accessible to the staff member or student concerned, who must be able to exercise their legal right defense. However, the rector may be asked to provide documents, such as testimony, anonymously to the Disciplinary Board/Disciplinary Committee.
Anonymity may affect the evidential value of the information. Anonymous statements will often serve only as additional evidence, in cases where other documents already point to the alleged facts. You should also take into account that the staff member or student concerned always has access to the disciplinary file, including any anonymous statements added to it. Based on the description of the facts, anonymity cannot be guaranteed, as the person concerned may be able to deduce or suspect who made the statement. Take this into account if you wish to remain anonymous before referral to the Disciplinary Board/Disciplinary Committee.
If it is not possible to remain anonymous (towards by person concerned) by submitting the evidence/statement, while you wish to remain anonymous, the document cannot be included in the file.
Will I be informed of the disciplinary procedure and the disciplinary decision?
Both the complainant and the staff member or student concerned will be informed by the case manager of all procedural steps and the final disciplinary decision. Other persons canmay also be informed on a "need to know" basis, for example, immediate superior / head of department, promotor.
Witnesses are not informed by the case manager.
Only the staff member or student concerned has access to the disciplinary file. The complainant and witnesses do not.
If you have questions about the status of your complaint or a disciplinary procedure that concerns, please contact legal@UGent.be. Formal notifications (for example, notice of hearing, notification of the disciplinary decision) are issued by the Disciplinary Board (staff) / Disciplinary Committee (students).
Can I appeal against the disciplinary decision?
The staff member or the student concerned on whom a disciplinary measure has been imposed may lodge an appeal with the Disciplinary Appeals Board (staff) / Disciplinary Appeals Committee (students). This must be done within 30 calendar days of receipt of the disciplinary decision. The disciplinary appeal body will re-examine the case and issue a decision replacing the first instance decision. A more severe disciplinary measure may also be imposed on appeal. The disciplinary decision on appeal is immediately enforceable.
What time limits apply to the disciplinary procedure?
Only offences that occured within the past five years may be subject to a disciplinary procedure, unless they concern criminal offenses that have not yet become criminally time-barred.
The preliminary investigation by the rector is conducted within a maximum period of six months.
Once the case has been referred, there is no fixed time limit fo completing the disciplinary proceedings. However, the principle of reasonable time apply. The duration will depend, among other things, on the number of cases pending before the Disciplinary Board (staff) / Disciplinary Committee (students) and, above all, the complexity of the case.
Disciplinary procedures may be suspended because of an ongoing criminal investigation. This is not always the case for criminal offenses, and is not permitted when the staff member or student concerned has confessed to the facts or when there is clear evidence (for example, falsification of a diploma). Suspension will occur when, the criminal investigation is necessary to determine whether the facts took place and whether the person concerned is found guilty.
Once the case has been taken into consideration, the Disciplinary Board/Disciplinary Committee will issue its disciplinary decision within a maximum period of four months.
How are the Disciplinary Board (staff) / Disciplinary Committee (students) composed?
The Disciplinary Board for staff is composed of three professorial staff members ("ZAP") (including one lawyer-chair) and two members who alternate according to the staff category of the staff member concerned being disciplined (ZAP, Other Academic Staff ("OAP") or Administrative and Technical Staff ("ATP")). The Disciplinary Appeals Boards for staff has a ZAP lawyer chair and is further composed of three members appointed by the trade unions and three members appointed by the university administration of which one is ZAP, one is OAP and one is ATP.
The Disciplinary Committee for students, both at first instance and on appeal, is composed of three ZAP members (including one lawyer-chair) and two members who alternate depending on the category of the person being disciplined, namely student or doctoral student.
The Board of Governors of Ghent University has decided that at least the majority of the members of the disciplinary bodies should be external. Currently, the regulations are being amended to this end. The decision-making process is ongoing.
The staff member or student concerned may appeal within a period of 30 calendar days. The disciplinary decision on appeal shall also be taken within a maximum period of four months after the case has been taken into consideration.
What are measures to ensure orderly conduct and preventive suspension in the interest of the service?
The rector may impose measures to ensure orderly conduct on a member of staff or a student if certain facts or the behavior of that person cause unrest, disrupts the proper functioning of the department or university community, or endanger safety or the (psychosocial) well-being of staff or students or the person concerned. Measures to ensure orderly conduct can also be imposed without initiating a disciplinary procedure.
Measures to ensure orderly conduct are temporarily and may be imposed for a maximum of three months. They may be extended by the rector for the same maximum duration, with appropriate justification.
Examples: prohibition of access to (parts of) Ghent University sites and buildings; prohibition of contact with (certain) staff members or students; closure of the user account.
With regard to staff members, the rector may also decide on a preventive suspension in the interest of the service. However, this measure is linked to a disciplinary procedure and may be imposed in case of serious disciplinary offenses, if the interest of the service so requires. The preventive suspension is imposed for a maximum of six months and may be extended once for the same maximum duration with justification. During this period, the staff member may not perform any professional activities as a staff member of Ghent University, is denied access to Ghent University sites and buildings, must refrain from contact with staff members and students, and loses access to their university account.
Where can I find the applicable regulations?
The regulations of Ghent University can be found in the Codex of Ghent University. Third parties do not have access to the Codex of Ghent University. They can request a copy of the applicable regulations at legal@UGent.be.
All staff members of Ghent University in the broadest sense, including doctoral students (except those who are pursuing a doctoral degree with their own resources) are subject to the disciplinary regulations for staff.
All students, including doctoral students, are subject to the disciplinary regulations for students.
Note: doctoral students, except those who are doing a doctorate with their own resources, have a dual capacity, which means that they are covered by the regulations and procedure for staff, but both disciplinary measures for staff (for example, end of fellowship agreement) and disciplinary measures for students (for example suspension of enrollment) can be imposed. On the other hand, doctoral students pursuing a doctoral degree by their own resources are only covered by the regulations and procedure for students.
More information about transgressive behaviour and discrimination:
- Students
- Staff (incl. doctoral researchers)
More information about violations of research integrity.