Quotas ruled unlawful

Affirmative action has suffered a setback in Sweden:

A quota-based admissions policy at Uppsala University was declared unlawful last week by Uppsala district court.

The two students who sued the university after they were denied a place on the law programme said they were satisfied with the decision, but the attorney general, Göran Lambertz, who represented the state, said he intended to appeal.

The new admission process has been on trial for two years and has served mainly the law programme. Ten percent of the places are reserved for students with non-Swedish ethnic background.

Josefin Midander and Cecilia Lönn, two students who applied for the programme, were declined a place - despite having the required grades - because they had the 'wrong' ethnic background. Both have parents who were born in Sweden.