AS TO THE ADMISSIBILITY OF Application No. 24515/94 by Bahri SULAK against Turkey The European Commission of Human Rights (First Chamber) sitting in private on 17 January 1996, the following members being present: Mr. C.L. ROZAKIS, President Mrs. J. LIDDY MM. E. BUSUTTIL A.S. GÖZÜBÜYÜK A. WEITZEL M.P. PELLONPÄÄ B. MARXER B. CONFORTI N. BRATZA I. BÉKÉS E. KONSTANTINOV G. RESS A. PERENIC C. BÎRSAN K. HERNDL Mrs. M.F. BUQUICCHIO, Secretary to the Chamber Having regard to Article 25 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms; Having regard to the application introduced on 12 April 1994 by Bahri SULAK against Turkey and registered on 1 July 1994 under file No. 24515/94; Having regard to the report provided for in Rule 47 of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission; Having deliberated; Decides as follows: THE FACTS A. Particular circumstances of the case The applicant is a Turkish citizen, born in 1963 and resident in Eskisehir. The facts of the present case as submitted by the applicant may be summarised as follows. On 4 September 1991 the applicant sat a foreign languages examination in the Engineering and Architecture Faculty of the University of X. where he had been studying. In a decision dated 27 September 1991, the Administrative Board of the Faculty found that the applicant had copied from another student during the examination of 4 September 1991, which constituted a disciplinary offence in accordance with the Disciplinary Regulations for students attending Higher Education Institutions (Yüksek Ögretim Kurumlari Ögrenci Disiplin Yönetmeligi -"the Disciplinary Regulations"). It observed that the applicant had committed the same disciplinary offence for the third time. The Board decided to expel the applicant from the University in accordance with the provisions of the Disciplinary Regulations. Subsequently the applicant instituted proceedings for the annulment of the decision dated 27 September 1991. In a decision dated 16 September 1992, the Eskisehir Administrative Court dismissed the action. The Court observed that the Faculty Board had carried out an inquiry and examined the similarity between the examination papers. It noted that the applicant had been previously subjected to disciplinary penalties under the provisions of the Disciplinary Regulations for having committed the same disciplinary offence. It found that the applicant's expulsion pursuant to the Disciplinary Regulations was not contrary to the law. The applicant appealed. On 26 May 1993 the Council of State, upholding the cogency of the Administrative Court's reasoning, dismissed the appeal. The applicant requested the rectification of this judgment. On 20 January 1994, the Council of State dismissed this request. COMPLAINTS The applicant complains that his expulsion from the university pursuant to a disciplinary measure deprived him of the right to education. He also alleges that under the national regulations, expelled students are prevented from enroling in another higher education institution to pursue their studies. THE LAW The applicant complains that the disciplinary sanction imposed on him deprived him of the right to education. The Commission examined the applicant's complaint under Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 (P1-2), which, in so far as relevant, provides: "No person shall be denied the right to education..." The Commission recalls that the right to education contemplated in Article 2 of Protocol No. 1(P1-2), mainly concerns elementary education and not necessarily specialist advanced studies (No. 14524/89, Dec. 6.1.93, D.R. 74 pp. 14, 27). In the present case the education in question is higher education. However, even assuming that Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 (P1-2) is applicable to the present case, the application is in any event manifestly ill-founded for the following reasons. The Commission recalls that the right to education guaranteed by the first sentence of Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 (P1-2) by its very nature calls for regulation by the State provided that such regulation does not injure the substance of the right nor conflict with other rights enshrined in the Convention or its Protocols (cf. Campbell and Cosans judgment of 25 February 1982, para. 41, Series A, no. 98, p. 19). The Commission further recalls that the right does not in principle exclude recourse to disciplinary measures, including those of suspension and expulsion from an educational establishment (cf. No. 14524/89, loc. cit., p. 14, 27). In the present case, the Commission notes that the applicant had an opportunity to follow his chosen course of study in the University of X. It further notes that the applicant had been disciplined on two occasions for cheating and can have been in no doubt as to the requirement of the rules and regulations of the institution or as to the likely consequences of a further breach of those rules. Consequently, after having been been found to have cheated a third time, he was expelled from the University as a disciplinary measure. In addition, the Commission observes that the applicant had an opportunity to challenge the diciplinary measure in question before the national courts which found that his expulsion was lawful. It is true that the applicant submits that under the national regulations, students expelled from higher education institutions are prevented from enrolling in another higher education institution to pursue their studies. However, even assuming that this submission is correct, in the circumstances of the present case, the Commission cannot find that the expulsion of the applicant injured the substance of the right guaranteed by Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 (P1-2) or amounted to a denial of the applicant's right to education guaranteed by that Article. It follows that the application is manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 27 para. 2 (Art. 27-2) of the Convention. For these reasons, the Commission, unanimously, DECLARES THE APPLICATION INADMISSIBLE. Secretary to the First Chamber President of the First Chamber (M.F. BUQUICCHIO) (C.L. ROZAKIS)