It is beyond argument that education is a cornerstone of the sustainable development of any society and state. The more educated society and its individual members are, the more capable the state and its economy and security and technology systems are of giving a targeted response to challenges of today’s world. However, education should not be seen as an end in itself. Certain quality requirements and standards should be respected in the educational process, one of them being academic integrity. Academic misconduct is firmly condemned both at educational institutions and in society, and occasionally the lawfulness of acquired education may be questioned. This kind of misconduct represents a phenomenon leading to several threats, and it can be interpreted as an intellectual property theft, which compromises the quality of education, thereby reducing a state’s capacity for development, and undermines confidence in educational institutions and persons who have committed misconduct, adversely affecting society in general. It should be emphasised that, if ignored, academic misconduct facilitates legal nihilism in the long term. Therefore, one of priorities in education should be associated with solidifying academic integrity as a component of sustainable development. In the light of the above, this article analyses the understanding of academic integrity and how students can be punished for academic misconduct in the context of sustainable development, for which purpose internal regulations of major higher education institutions of the Republic of Latvia have been examined. Keywords: academic integrity, liability for academic misconduct, right to education, sustainable development of the state

Technologies are becoming an integral component of study process. Opportunities brought by digitalisation in the field of education are not at variance with the right to education and conform to the right to exploit the achieved scientific and technical progress for enhancing human life and welfare; moreover, there no grounds for asserting that knowledge and skills acquired remotely are at a lower level than the results of face-to-face learning. However, to develop a uniform understanding and create a stable legal basis for the evolution of remote studying, legislative amendments that would define remote studying and set forth related requirements are needed.The aim of the research is the analysis of remote studies as a form and practice of education, evaluating the provisions of regulatory enactments in order to find out its admissibility and compliance with the right to education.The research uses document analysis, as well as methods of interpretation of legal norms and induction-deduction method, drawing conclusions and making proposals for improving regulatory enactments and practice of higher education establishments.However, there exist various interpretations of the content of remote studies. The management of higher education establishments are also discussing the construction of the term ‘contact hour’ provided in the Law on Higher Education Institutions, including remote studying that at least partially duplicates distance and open learning and additional requirements concerning the organisation of the remote study process.

Several issues are absorbed in practise and research of law applying, concerning the protection of consumers in „traditional” business and services. But issues conserning a warranty of higher education services, evoke indistinctness and difficulties in real practice, as there is no regulations in legislation of the Latvian Republic. It complicates customer protection in education, therefore creating untransparent and problematic service. Aim of the paper is to study warranty problems of higher education services and outline the possible solutions to these problems, also emphasizing the need tosolve these problems.

Abstract. Several issues are absorbed in practice and research of law applying, concerning the protection of consumers in "traditional" business and services. But issues concerning customer protection in specific fields of individual and legal persons-education, health, science are not investigated and therefore create difficulties in practice. The aim of the paper is to study theoretical and practical issues concerning customer protection in education in Latvia with an emphasis on gaps of consumer protection regulatory. Overall, it should be noted, protection of consumer rights in education in Latvia is difficult under the present circumstances. This is followed by uncontrollable quality. Leaving aside the guarantees of service also stimulates violence of consumer rights. The partition between administrative regulation and civil regulation, concerning protection of consumer rights in education, is required. It will be the base for partition of both law enforcement and the courts, encouraging the customer, society and its member's confidence in the education system. It also will guarantee the quality of education and justice. It also describes the nature of consumer protection in Republic of Latvia. In addition, modernization of Consumer Rights Protection Law with specific regulations concerning protection of consumer rights in education is needed.

The authors felt it necessary to update the discussion, which is associated with higher education, as one of the forms, which operates under free market conditions, and the relationship that is established between the higher education institutions and the students. Higher Education Institutions is a “service provider”, but the student recipient of the service – “consumer”. Both the Latvian and international higher education area is very different and there are conflicting views on the issue. Consequently, the authors wanted to analyze the current situation in Latvia, look at the legal framework relating to the above problem and to provide their views.