8 RUBINS v. LATVIA JUDGMENT II. RELEVANT DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL LAW Relevant domestic law and practice 1. Labour Law 29. Section 9 of the Labour Law (a whistle-blowers’ protection clause) provides that an employee may not be punished or otherwise directly or indirectly subjected to unfavourable treatment, in the context of employment relations, for exercising his rights in a permissible manner [pieļaujamā veidā] or informing the competent authorities or officials about suspicions of criminal or administrative offences in his place of employment. If, in the event of a dispute, an employee reports such circumstances which could serve as a basis for unfavourable treatment by his or her employer, it is the employer’s duty to prove that the employee has not been punished or otherwise unfavourably affected, either directly or indirectly, for having exercised his or her rights in the context of employment relations in a permissible manner. 30. Section 101(1)(1) and (3) of the Labour Law authorises employers to dismiss an employee only on the basis of circumstances related to the employee’s conduct or his or her abilities, or in connection with the performance of economic, organisational, technological or similar functions within the company if (1) “the employee, in the absence of extenuating circumstances, has committed significant infringements of his or her employment contract or terms of employment” and (3) “the employee has fulfilled his or her duties in a manner that disregards good morals [labi tikumi] and such actions are not compatible with his or her continued employment.” 31. The same section further provides that if an employer intends to issue a notice of termination of an employment contract on the basis of, inter alia, the first paragraph, sub-paragraphs 1 and 3 of this section, the employer has a duty to request written explanations from the employee. When deciding on the possible termination of the employment contract the employer has a duty to evaluate the severity of the violation at issue and the circumstances in which it was committed, as well as the personal characteristics of the employee and his or her previous work record. 2. Relevant provisions regulating the functioning of the University 32. Point 3.2 of the constituent document of the University (Rīgas Stradiņa universitātes Satversme) provides that the Rector or the Senate may convene the constituent assembly of the University. The Rector, the Senate or the student self-government body may convene an extraordinary meeting of the constituent assembly. Pursuant to point 3.8 the Rector has a