After losing a challenge in the High Court in October over the university's legal right to use the code to discipline students, the Otago University Students Association (OUSA) has decided to appeal that decision.
University vice-chancellor Prof Sir David Skegg broke the news in his regular vice-chancellor's business slot at a university council meeting on Tuesday.
"I regret to inform you the OUSA has filed an intention to appeal to the Court of Appeal," Prof Skegg told council members, saying the action would lead to an elongation of the legal process and additional expense for both the university and the OUSA.
He did not elaborate on the detail of the appeal or how long it was likely to take.
OUSA president Edwin Darlow, who is a member of the university council, heard Prof Skegg's words but was not asked to speak.
Neither he nor OUSA legal counsel Hayden Wilson, of Wellington law firm KensingtonSwan, returned calls from the Otago Daily Times on Tuesday or yesterday.
The university strengthened the code of conduct in 2007 to make it clear students could be disciplined for behaviour both on and off campus.
The OUSA asked the High Court to decide whether the university had the legal right to use the code of conduct to discipline students for off-campus behaviour, citing the case of a student banned from classes for a semester for throwing rubbish at a car and breaking one of its windows during the OUSA-organised toga parade in February.
It also sought a judgement on whether the university was correct to exclude student representatives from code of conduct appeal board hearings.
The university said student representatives could not sit on the board as they had a conflict of interest because of a formal OUSA resolution opposing the code.
After a one-day hearing in Dunedin in October, Justice Warwick Gendall, of Wellington, found in favour of the university on both points.
He said it was clear the university, under the Education Act, had a role as a critic and conscience of society and it was abundantly clear it had the power to regulate the conduct of its members, including students.
