I. Location of the paper in the context of Conference:

The author presents this paper to the International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation (ICERI 2008). Within its main goal -the presentation and discussion of innovations, projects on research and the latest innovations and results in the field of Higher Education- he wants to present an institution that he thinks can really contribute to improve the Basque Country University and to listen the opinion of the assistants on the matter: the University of Basque Country Ombudsman, the institution called in basque language or euskara “Aldezle”.

II. Dispute in the university and the need to settle it.

Like in all universities, in the University of the Basque Country a lot of interests converge. Teachers, students and personnel of services have different interests and worries. Therefore, it is often a clash of interests not only between members of the same group, between members of different groups too. This clash of interests causes the dispute. Attending to the area or field in which it is given, as we speak about industrial or family dispute, we can speak about university conflict.

We can show many examples of university conflict: harassment cases among members of same or different groups; students’ complaints about teaching; teachers’ complaints about students’ behaviour ...

But university conflict itself it is not bad. Dispute is always engine of change, source of progress and adaptation to new realities. Nevertheless, its solution is essential, because otherwise it is destructive. Exactly, the maintenance of four principal values (justice, peace, public order and common good) demands the solventation of the disputes.

III. The faults of jurisdictional solution of the university conflict and the need to develop extrajuristictional solution.

Jurisdiction has been the ordinary way to settle university conflict for a long time. However, this way of conflict resolution shows many faults in order to resolve university conflict: its adversarial nature (it is based on the assault-defense of the plaintiff and defendant) become enemies people who have to work together in the university; often, instead of settling the disputes, jurisdiction accentuate them or create new ones; it is very expensive and slow; too formal,…

Consequently, and within a global legal-philosophical-social movement called ADR, the use of peaceful, not coercitive mechanisms, based on consensus of the parties in order to solve university conflict have been defended. Specifically, University Ombudsman is called to be the adequate ADR technique to solve university dispute.

IV. Time to implement the “Aldezle” (University of Basque Country Ombudsman).

The statute of the Basque University (2003/322 Decree, December 23) recognizes The Basque Country University Ombudsman (it´s called “Aldezle” in basque) in its seventh chapter of the second title. Concretely, in five articles (105-109) its legal state is established: its election and appointment; the ombuds office; the basic principles of its action; its functions and the prerogatives in the exercise of these, and cease. We will study all them in the paper.

Particular emphasis is placed on the idea that this moment, when all Europe Countryes -and Spain too- are embarked in the process of building the European Higher Education Area, can be appropiate to implement the institution of the “Aldezle”.