Two students ordered to pay €1,000 each in legal costs after challenging their exclusion from Sciences Po

Following pro-Palestine student mobilisations at Sciences Po on 10 September 2025, three students were barred from accessing campus under a precautionary measure. The institution justified the exclusion on the basis of a risk to public order. Although they remained enrolled and continued paying tuition fees, the students were prevented from attending classes in person for several months and reported having only limited access to remote teaching materials.

The students challenged the measure before the administrative court, arguing that it constituted a disproportionate disciplinary sanction imposed without due process. Although the public rapporteur reportedly considered that the exclusion bore the characteristics of a disguised disciplinary sanction, the court dismissed their appeal and ordered two of the students to pay €1,000 each toward Sciences Po's legal costs. The students have announced their intention to appeal.

In June 2026, the institution's disciplinary proceedings concluded with no sanction for two of the students and only a warning for the third, allowing all three to return to campus. The students and their legal representatives argued that the case reflects a broader pattern of disciplinary measures targeting pro-Palestine activism at Sciences Po, stating that 53 disciplinary proceedings and 13 temporary exclusions have been initiated since the beginning of the mobilisations. They also challenged the evidence relied upon by both the institution and the administrative court, alleging that it included footage from an undercover report by the Israeli public broadcaster Kan, in which a journalist posing as a student secretly recorded and published conversations with students without their knowledge or consent. According to the students, the exclusion had lasting consequences for their studies.