Legal victory: Court annuls the antisemitic boycott agreement of the University of Oviedo

ACOM celebrates the ruling by the Contentious-Administrative Court No. 5 of Oviedo, which fully upholds our appeal and declares null and void the Agreement of June 13, 2024, signed between the so-called “Rectoral Team” of the University of Oviedo and Acampada UniOvi, whereby the university committed to not establishing agreements with Israeli institutions and companies and to request that the European Union block Israeli participation in projects funded with European funds.

The ruling is categorical: those who signed the agreement on behalf of the university lacked any authority to adopt it and bind the institution. The judgment recalls that no body called “Rectoral Team” exists within the structure of the University of Oviedo and that it is the Governing Council that has the authority to approve the signing of agreements with public or private entities, in accordance with Organic Law 2/2023 and the university’s own Statutes. The agreement is declared null and void pursuant to Article 48.1 of Law 39/2015 on the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations.

The court also rejects the University of Oviedo’s claim that the agreement was merely a “statement of intent” with no legal effects. The ruling emphasizes that the commitments to not establish agreements with Israeli institutions and to request their exclusion from European projects constitute actions with clear and direct practical effects that go beyond a simple public positioning, and are therefore subject to judicial review when they may violate fundamental rights.
This judgment confirms what ACOM has denounced from day one: boycott agreements against Israel are not symbolic gestures or innocuous political declarations, but discriminatory acts that single out and exclude individuals and institutions because of their connection to the only Jewish state. They are, ultimately, manifestations of contemporary antisemitism that have no place in our universities or any public institution.

This victory adds to the recent judicial rulings obtained by ACOM against the universities of Granada, Valencia, Malaga, and Complutense of Madrid, consolidating unequivocal case law: using public institutions to discriminate against individuals and institutions because of their connection to Israel is illegal and violates the Spanish legal system.
ACOM recalls that it maintains open legal actions against the universities of La Laguna, the Basque Country, and others that have adopted similar measures to sever ties with Israeli academic institutions.

The determination of Pedro Sánchez’s Government to corrupt Spanish institutions, including academic ones, in order to align Spain with dictatorships and make it complicit with terrorist organizations will always be met with a firm and resolute response from those of us who defend democracy, the rule of law, and freedom.

ACOM will continue to act with determination in the courts and in the public sphere to defend equality before the law and ensure that our institutions are not instrumentalized by agendas of hatred.
Against intolerance, against antisemitism, we will never stop.