Dismissal of the Rector of the Prison Service University: A Legal Loophole in the Polish Higher Education System

Abstract

The article analyzes the regulations concerning the functioning of the Academy of Justice in the context of appointing and dismissing the rector. The aim was to examine the evolution of these regulations in 2018–2023 and to indicate the existence of a legal loophole regarding the lack of proper regulation of the issue of dismissal of the rector of the Prison Service university, which was the central hypothesis. The article also assessed the evolution of regulations concerning the formation of the autonomy of the Prison Service university. Selected provisions of the Act on Higher Education and Science and the Act on the Prison Service and its amendments were analysed (especially the episodic provisions of the amendment of 2023). De lege ferenda postulates indicate the need to eliminate the loophole by amending both the Act on Higher Education and Science and the Act on the Prison Service, as well as the need to adapt the statute of the Prison Service university to the statutory requirements.