51ÁÔÆæ

UNAT noted that the Appellant merely repeated arguments submitted before UNDT and recalled that an appellant has the burden of satisfying UNAT that the UNDT judgment was defective and must state the grounds upon which he or she relies, and that merely stating disagreement or repeating previous arguments was insufficient. UNAT held that Secretary-General¡¯s reports and memoranda lacked the legal authority vested in properly promulgated administrative issuances. UNAT noted the relevant administrative instruction on the staff selection process (ST/AI/2010/3) was silent on the requirement for...

On the alleged procedural error of the UNDT not allowing an oral examination of witnesses, UNAT held that it was well within the competence of UNDT to manage its cases as it saw fit and that the Appellant had not demonstrated how the procedure affected or violated her due process rights; UNAT dismissed this ground of appeal. UNAT held, affirming the finding of UNDT, that the Appellant failed to establish that the decision to remove her from her post in Budapest constituted a disguised disciplinary measure. UNAT found no merit in the ground of appeal that UNDT failed to consider that UNHCR...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. Regarding the evidence on which the disciplinary measure was based, UNAT held that UNDT had failed to appreciate the fact that the women who had been sexually exploited or abused came from a highly sensitive cultural background and were socially vulnerable. UNAT held that UNDT failed to consider the fact that the staff member, as Officer-in-Charge of Security of MINURSO, had a particular duty of care towards women and children, pursuant to Section 7 of ST/SGB/1999/13. UNAT held that the established facts amounted to sexual exploitation. UNAT...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT held that although the Secretary-General has discretion in the appointment of staff, he has no discretion to impose unwritten regulations and rules that are prejudicial to staff members. UNAT dismissed the appeal and affirmed the UNDT judgment.

UNAT held that the appeal was without merit and that the request for management evaluation was filed in an untimely manner. UNAT held that the Appellant had failed to demonstrate that informal resolution efforts had been taken which could extend the time limit. UNAT noted that the Appellant had not requested such an extension of the time limit. UNAT held that UNDT had correctly decided that the request for management evaluation was not receivable as it was time-barred. UNAT dismissed the appeal and affirmed the UNDT judgment.

Regarding the allegations that UNDT erred in law, fact, and procedure and failed to exercise its jurisdiction in relation to her allegations of discrimination, UNAT held that the burden was on the Appellant to establish that the oral and documentary evidence, if admitted, would have led to different findings of fact, and changed the outcome of the case. UNAT held that UNDT had not erred in rejecting the Appellant¡¯s allegations that she had been subjected to discrimination on the grounds of gender or based on her family responsibilities and her expressed desire to work part-time. Regarding the...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT affirmed UNDT¡¯s finding of the unlawfulness of reassignment decision. UNAT recalled that reassignment is proper if the new post is at the staff member¡¯s grade; if the responsibilities involved correspond to his or her level; if the new functions are commensurate with the staff member¡¯s competencies and skills; and if he or she has substantial professional experience in the field. UNAT held that, in Ms Rees¡¯ case, none of these factors existed with respect to the position to which the Administration purported to reassign her. UNAT held...

UNAT held that the Appellant was asking for a review of his case in order to enhance the award and that he merely repeated arguments already considered and accepted by UNDT, which was not the purpose of an appeal. UNAT held that the Appellant had not met the burden of demonstrating that the UNDT had erred in assessing the damages. UNAT held that UNDT did not err on a question of fact resulting in a manifestly unreasonable decision on this point. UNAT dismissed the appeal and affirmed the UNDT judgment.

UNAT held that the Appellant had merely repeated his submissions before JAB and UNDT and while voicing his disagreement with the conclusions, he did not succeed to establish any errors committed by the UNDT. UNAT held that the Appellant did not possess the relevant professional qualification. UNAT held that UNDT had not erred in affirming the JAB¡¯s findings that the allegations of manipulation of the selection criteria were not well-founded and that the selection process was conducted in a proper manner. UNAT held that UNDT¡¯s focus on the requirement of professional legal experience did not...

UNAT held that UNDT had correctly found that the alignment policy constituted an organisational measure aimed at simplifying administrative procedures in relation to staff appointments at UNODC. UNAT agreed with UNDT that, as a result of the Secretary-General¡¯s broad discretion in relation to decisions on internal management, the issuance of the policy by a ¡°Message of the Day¡± was subject to limited review by the Tribunal. UNAT affirmed UNDT¡¯s finding that the Appellant had failed to demonstrate that the application of the alignment policy to his case was motivated by improper motives and...

UNAT considered the Secretary-General's appeal of Order No. 081 (NBI/2011) and two appeals by Mr Nwuke against UNDT Order No. 101 (NBI/2011) and judgment No. UNDT/2012/002. The Secretary-General asserted that UNDT exceeded its jurisdiction in ordering the suspension of a contested decision without making a finding as to whether the requirements for suspension of action under Article 2(2) of the UNDT Statute had been met. UNAT held that UNDT did not respect the limit of five working days, as set forth in Villamoran (2011-UNAT-160), when it extended the suspension until 17 August 2011 when the...

UNAT held that the Appellant simply stated that he suffered harm following the decision not to reclassify his post but did not provide any evidence of harm to his career or morale. UNAT held that compensation may only be awarded if it has been established that the staff member actually suffered damages. UNAT dismissed the appeal and affirmed the UNDT judgment.

As a preliminary matter, UNAT denied the Appellant¡¯s request for an oral hearing as the submissions by the parties did not require clarification. UNAT questioned whether her case presented exceptional circumstances that would warrant the reopening of her case by the Secretary-General, as her application was not filed in a timely manner. UNAT found that the appeal was not receivable as, notwithstanding her illness, she did not demonstrate such circumstances. UNAT dismissed the appeal and upheld the UNDT judgment.

UNAT considered the Secretary-General¡¯s appeal regarding the compensation award of six months¡¯ net base salary for the irregularities in the selection process. UNAT noted that the present case substantially differed from Kasyanov (2010-UNAT-076), which the Secretary-General relied upon; had Mr Kasyanov been selected, it would have been a mere lateral move for him without any change in salary and status. Contrastingly, Mr Sprauten¡¯s selection would have been a move from a temporary appointment to a fixed-term appointment. UNAT rejected the Secretary-General¡¯s contention that UNDT erred in law...

UNAT considered an appeal, in which the Appellant claimed that UNDT committed procedural errors in allowing the Secretary-General to embark on a de novo fact-finding inquiry and that the disciplinary measure of separation was disproportionate. UNAT held that it was within the competence of UNDT to hold oral hearings as well as to order the production of evidence for fair and expeditious disposal of the proceedings. UNAT held that the Administration bears the burden of establishing that the alleged misconduct, for which a disciplinary measure has been taken against a staff member, occurred and...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General against the judgment on the merits (UNDT/2011/054) and two further appeals by both the Secretary-General and the Applicant of the judgment on compensation (UNDT/2011/131). Relying on its previous holding in Bertucci (2011/UNAT/114), UNAT held that UNDT erred in finding that the Administration violated the Applicant¡¯s due process rights, as no actual prejudice was found. UNAT held that the established facts, as admitted by the Applicant, clearly demonstrated that he engaged in the sexual harassment of local employees and used his position of...

UNAT held that there was no valid claim of unfair treatment and discrimination by the Appellant against the former Chief of ATS and UNDT therefore correctly limited its consideration to the interview process. UNAT held that the Appellant was merely repeating arguments that were adequately considered by UNDT and that there were no reasons to reverse UNDT¡¯s judgment. UNAT dismissed the appeal and affirmed the UNDT judgment.

The Appellant contested the UNDT finding that he was afforded full and fair consideration for the position of Chief and argued that he suffered unfair and discriminatory treatment. UNAT held that if the Administration does not comply with a Tribunal¡¯s order to disclose the reasons for an administrative decision, as such, the Tribunal cannot automatically conclude that the decision was arbitrary, but it is entitled to draw an adverse inference from the refusal. UNAT affirmed the UNDT finding that the Administration¡¯s decision must be deemed unlawful, as the Secretary-General refused to comply...

UNAT held that the Appellant failed to establish that the UNDP decision to contact the Pakistani Government directly to enquire about its deputation policy was improperly motivated. With regard to the new communication upon which the Appellant wished to rely, UNAT held that it was new evidence, for which leave was required, in order to adduce it before UNAT. UNAT did not find any exceptional circumstances existed to require it to consider the new evidence. UNAT held that UNDT did not err in taking into consideration the conditions governing the Appellant¡¯s deputation in order to determine his...

UNAT held that the UNDT correctly held that the recommendations did not constitute administrative decisions subject to appeal. UNAT held that the Appellant had not demonstrated any error in the decision by UNDT that his application was not receivable. UNAT dismissed the appeal and affirmed the UNDT judgment.