The law regarding a court's involvement in the student/
university relationship has seen significant changes in the last
decade, particularly with respect to the level of deference that is
accorded to so-called academic matters.
What follows is a summary of this development and a brief
discussion of resulting practical issues.
A. HISTORICAL APPROACH
Historically, the court would look at the plaintiff's case
and ask a threshold question: "Is the claim being advanced
academic in nature?" Irrespective of the remedy being sought,
claims that were academic in nature were routinely dealt with by
summary judgment, in favour of universities; the courts were
reluctant to take jurisdiction over such matters.
