TLÜ academic committee rules not to strip PPA chief of master's degree
The Tallinn University (TLÜ) Academic Committee, which investigated alleged plagiarism in the master's thesis of Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) Director General Elmar Vaher, concluded in its analysis that while Vaher did violate the principles of copyright, citation and research ethics in his thesis, the original work presented therein outweighed these violations, due to which they did not deem it necessary to strip him of his degree.
"The committee elected to drop the proposal to strip [Elmar Vaher of] his degree as overlap [with previously published sources] were for the most part attributable to incorrect citations of laws, letters of explanation, etc., the share was small in terms of copyright, and the duties of the thesis adviser in the learning process must also be taken into account," the conclusion of the committee's analysis reads.
As a result, the committee ruled to propose that the thesis defense committee regrade Vaher's master's thesis, taking into account circumstances that have since come to light.
Vaher defended his master's thesis, "The legal regulation of risk prevention in the case of threat to the constitutional order" ("Ohutõrje õiguslik regulatsioon põhiseaduslikku korda ähvardava ohu korral"), at TLÜ in January 2016, earning an A.
Allegations that he had plagiarized his thesis first appeared in weekly Eesti Ekspress in June.
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Editor: Aili Vahtla
