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A gov admitting agency had the mandate to green-light my application but they halted it pending transcript verification from my previous university. I was later admitted but BECAUSE i wasn’t admitted by the preset deadline, i missed a scholarship.

I mean, as is the custom elsewhere, students are admitted as the admitters await transcript verification responses from previous universities, but for my case they indefinitely suspended the admission altogether. I missed out on being considered for a scholarship that i had prepared for- for the last 3 years. I believe it was unfair coz verification only satisfies the interest of the admitter therefore an applicant should not suffer it’s consequences incase it delays or does not go well, besides verification wasn’t listed as a pre-condition for admission. As an applicant i satisfied the admitters requirements & expectations when i uploaded all required docs and paid the application fee which in the admitter’s ordinance is meant to appraise the application, and my interest and expectation was to be admitted BY the preset dates.

How best if so can i or why can’t i claim damages for the admitting agency to give me all benefits i missed in the scholarship? Most specifically can i prove proximate cause?

Thanx

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  • What jurisdiction? – cpast Jun 28 '16 at 16:28
  • jurisdiction is Sweden, but i was applying from Africa – Sem5x Jun 28 '16 at 17:33
  • Can you explain what you mean by "had the mandate"? Usually, institutions have the option, not the mandate, but Sweden is a bit different. The best approach is to show that one or more agencies failed to follow regulations. E.g. Ordinance 2006:1053 says "shall waive", not "may waive". If this is SISS, they say "you must complete", not "it must be complete". – user6726 Jun 28 '16 at 19:47
  • One definition of Mandate: to officially give (someone) the power to do something. In this case the mandate to admit even pending transcript verification. And yes u are right, it's SISS that was offering the scholarship but it was the Swedish Council for Higher Education UHR that failed to admit me on time for the SISS scholarship, well aware time was of essence. – Sem5x Jun 28 '16 at 21:28
  • My query now is; under what legal mechanism can i claim damages? Negligence, Breach of Contract, what?? – Sem5x Jun 28 '16 at 21:35
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You cannot claim damages because the government has sovereign immunity for functions performed as a government. That is, it can only be sued when it agrees to be sued.

Notwithstanding, even if the government agrees to be sued by you, you probably won't win. If the "admittor" was exercising discretion that they properly possess under administrative law (almost certainly yes) then you would need to prove that the discretion was used maliciously or in a discriminatory way - while this is possible it is highly unlikely.

Furthermore, even if this was a private matter, I do not think the damage is proximate enough in a legal sense. Unless you made it clear to the "admittor" that your scholarship was contingent on being admitted by a given date it is not something that was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of their actions.

I would also be willing to bet that the application materials made it clear that a verified transcript was required and what that meant; this would make you the cause of the delay.

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  • Thank you Dale, In their Liability act gov can be sued. The admittor knew as it was on their website that scholarships from another gov agency were to dependent on admission on the preset date. Can this prove proximity? It would be conflict of interest for an applicant to get involved in verifying docs they uploaded. The dilemma is in why they chose to halt my application because of a delayed response which is not my problem at all, instead of approving it pending verification. Their website says they have the mandate to revoke an admission if the verification turns out fraudulent. – Sem5x Jun 28 '16 at 14:38
  • It is usually custom to approve an admission as verification goes on because there can be all reasons for delays. But am buffled coz some students from my previous uni, got admitted, yet verification was sent to the same university. Not sure why mine particularly delayed. But irrespctive of the reasons here, they were meant to follow the custom, i.e. approve admission as verification goes on and if it comes negative, annul the admission. but now it came positive but i can't attend the course coz i missed the scholarship coz of this delay.. – Sem5x Jun 28 '16 at 14:48
  • Just thinking aloud; how about a breach of implied contract. Coz i met all their expectations when i paid the application fee (which is hard earned in my country), and uploaded all required documents. They knew time was of essence here but failed to meet this term. – Sem5x Jun 28 '16 at 15:43
  • A government is never in a contractural relationship when performing a function of government. As for the rest ... hire a lawyer. – Dale M♦ Jun 28 '16 at 23:58
  • thanks @Dale M, thought in them receiving my Money they had an obligation to deliver as promised.. – Sem5x Jun 29 '16 at 0:45

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