Deprivation of a person’s academic degree: on the issue of uncertainty of some legal consequences

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the institution of deprivation of an academic degree in Russia. Particular attention is paid to the negative consequences of deprivation of an academic degree both for the person itself – for the former holder of an academic degree, and for other subjects participating in the process of defending the dissertation. Regulatory gaps in this area have been identified, as well as insufficient specificity of current legal regulations. The problematic issues of possible deprivation of Professor academic title of a scientific supervisor (scientific consultant) of a person deprived of an academic degree are identified. In this context, various solution options are considered. It is argued that if regulatory or local acts of an organisation establish requirements for having an academic degree (its specific level) to fill a certain position, and if a person fills this position on this basis only to be subsequently deprived of an academic degree, then at the same time it is deprived of the right to fill the corresponding position. The need to clarify the existing wording on the responsibility of opponents and the leading organisation that had given feedback on the dissertation of the person later deprived of the academic degree, is substantiated. It is noted that the current legal regulations do not make the level of adverse consequences dependent on the basis for deprivation of an academic degree, and they neither provide for the liability of subjects who had given a positive review of the dissertation abstract of the person who was subsequently deprived of the academic degree. Proposals and recommendations in the area under study are formulated in terms of optimising the current legislation in general and improving the requirements of the Regulations on the awarding of academic degrees, in particular.