A CONTROVERSIAL decision by a leading Scottish university to close a language and culture course is illegal, according to experts from within the institution.

Two academics from the school of law at Glasgow University said the decision to shut Slavonic Studies last month runs counter to legislation governing how higher education in Scotland is run.

Dr Aileen McHarg and Professor Tom Mullen, who specialise in administrative law, have written to Professor Anton Muscatelli, the university principal.

The letter – seen by The Herald – follows the decision in June by the university’s ruling Court to shut Slavonic Studies, which combines language and culture, as part of wider course cuts.

However, an earlier meeting of the university Senate – which represents academics – had expressed disproval.

According to Dr McHarg and Mr Mullen, the 1966 Universities (Scotland) Act states the withdrawal of degree programmes has to be agreed by Senate before Court can proceed.

Their letter states: “Without expressing a view on the merits of the Court’s recent decision to withdraw the degree programme in Slavonic Studies, we wish to express a view on the legality of the decision. It is our contention that this is a decision that can only lawfully be made on the recommendation of Senate.

“It is perhaps worth noting that the university’s procedure for withdrawal of degree programmes also indicates that such proposals must be approved by Senate, irrespective of whether they are made on academic or financial grounds.

“It follows that Court has made a decision which is beyond its powers and incompetent as an exercise of Court’s statutory powers. As such it is invalid, and cannot lawfully be acted upon by the senior management group.

“Senate’s explicit approval and recommendation would first be required before Court could lawfully resolve to withdraw the degree programme in Slavonic Studies.”

The letter concludes: “It would, therefore be premature for any action to be taken in this matter without Senate’s prior approval, and we suggest that it would be prudent for you to give an immediate assurance in this regard.”

When asked to comment on the legality of the decision to withdraw Slavonic Studies, a spokesman for Glasgow University would only say the decision had been made by the Court.

He said: “The Court took the decision to stop entry to the Slavonic studies degree programme from 2012. It did this to allow additional investment elsewhere in the school of modern languages and cultures and elsewhere in the university.

“We have already assured staff there is no need for compulsory redundancies and are working with staff in the school to better align our resources to meet student demands.”

The most extreme of Glasgow University’s proposals to save money included withdrawing all language courses, apart from French, Spanish and Portuguese. While scaled down, Slavonic Studies remained at risk.

At the time, an internal consultation paper said staffing levels in Czech and Polish were “a matter of serious concern ... particularly in light of staffing levels and student numbers in other languages and the poor research performance in Slavonic languages”.

In June, The Herald reported decisions by the Glasgow University Court to push through cuts. Most of the proposals had been agreed by Senate, but there had been concern over the threat to Slavonic Studies.

The university argues all the language elements will continue to be delivered at the same level. However, critics say the course is unique and a vital part of UK-wide study of Slavonic language and culture, which covers Russian, Polish and Czech.