diff --git a/app/controllers/concerns/lti.rb b/app/controllers/concerns/lti.rb
index 023e445f..4eef7590 100644
--- a/app/controllers/concerns/lti.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/concerns/lti.rb
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ module Lti
   private :return_to_consumer
 
   def send_score(score)
-    raise Error.new("Score #{score} must be between 0 and #{MAXIMUM_SCORE}!") unless (0..MAXIMUM_SCORE).include?(score)
+    fail(Error, "Score #{score} must be between 0 and #{MAXIMUM_SCORE}!") unless (0..MAXIMUM_SCORE).include?(score)
     provider = build_tool_provider(consumer: Consumer.find_by(id: session[:consumer_id]), parameters: session[:lti_parameters])
     if provider.nil?
       {status: 'error'}
diff --git a/app/policies/application_policy.rb b/app/policies/application_policy.rb
index 485e656c..5596f322 100644
--- a/app/policies/application_policy.rb
+++ b/app/policies/application_policy.rb
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ class ApplicationPolicy
   private :no_one
 
   def require_user!
-    raise Pundit::NotAuthorizedError unless @user
+    fail Pundit::NotAuthorizedError unless @user
   end
   private :require_user!
 
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ class ApplicationPolicy
     end
 
     def require_user!
-      raise Pundit::NotAuthorizedError unless @user
+      fail Pundit::NotAuthorizedError unless @user
     end
     private :require_user!
   end
diff --git a/lib/assessor.rb b/lib/assessor.rb
index 2009e990..177b99e1 100644
--- a/lib/assessor.rb
+++ b/lib/assessor.rb
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ class Assessor
     if options[:execution_environment].testing_framework?
       @testing_framework_adapter = Kernel.const_get(options[:execution_environment].testing_framework).new
     else
-      raise Error.new('No testing framework adapter set!')
+      fail(Error, 'No testing framework adapter set!')
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/code_ocean/config.rb b/lib/code_ocean/config.rb
index 9570bb7f..0f27f0dd 100644
--- a/lib/code_ocean/config.rb
+++ b/lib/code_ocean/config.rb
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ module CodeOcean
         content = options[:erb] ? YAML.load(ERB.new(::File.new(path, 'r').read).result) : YAML.load_file(path)
         content[Rails.env].with_indifferent_access
       else
-        raise Error.new("Configuration file not found: #{path}")
+        fail(Error, "Configuration file not found: #{path}")
       end
     end
   end
diff --git a/lib/docker_client.rb b/lib/docker_client.rb
index 51d9c38b..7d66b3cc 100644
--- a/lib/docker_client.rb
+++ b/lib/docker_client.rb
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ class DockerClient
   def self.check_availability!
     Timeout::timeout(config[:connection_timeout]) { Docker.version }
   rescue Excon::Errors::SocketError, Timeout::Error
-    raise Error.new("The Docker host at #{Docker.url} is not reachable!")
+    raise(Error, "The Docker host at #{Docker.url} is not reachable!")
   end
 
   def command_substitutions(filename)
@@ -96,12 +96,12 @@ class DockerClient
     @execution_environment = options[:execution_environment]
     @user = options[:user]
     @image = self.class.find_image_by_tag(@execution_environment.docker_image)
-    raise Error.new("Cannot find image #{@execution_environment.docker_image}!") unless @image
+    fail(Error, "Cannot find image #{@execution_environment.docker_image}!") unless @image
   end
 
   def self.initialize_environment
     unless config[:connection_timeout] && config[:workspace_root]
-      raise Error.new('Docker configuration missing!')
+      fail(Error, 'Docker configuration missing!')
     end
     Docker.url = config[:host] if config[:host]
     check_availability!
diff --git a/lib/testing_framework_adapter.rb b/lib/testing_framework_adapter.rb
index 15d4e28b..01d01d7e 100644
--- a/lib/testing_framework_adapter.rb
+++ b/lib/testing_framework_adapter.rb
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ class TestingFrameworkAdapter
   end
 
   def parse_output(output)
-    raise NotImplementedError.new("#{self.class} should implement #parse_output!")
+    fail(NotImplementedError, "#{self.class} should implement #parse_output!")
   end
   private :parse_output