Student loses court battle over test papers
Wednesday June 24 2009
A MEDICAL student has lost his High Court challenge to a refusal by the Freedom of Information Commissioner to release copies of his exam papers which he claimed would show he performed better than his mark.
Michael Kruse, a fourth-year UCD student, brought proceedings claiming Information Commissioner Emily O'Reilly had erred in law by refusing to release the papers.
Mr Kruse sought four documents relating to two exams he sat in 2006. UCD refused to give him copies, saying to do so would threaten the integrity of this method of assessment because it used a multiple-choice question format.
Mr Kruse appealed to Ms O'Reilly. She upheld UCD's decision and he then instituted High Court proceedings.
But yesterday, Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan found the commissioner had sufficient evidence to conclude UCD had identified a potential harm to its function and was within rights to reject Mr Kruse's request.
