51ÁÔÆæ

The decision to terminate the Applicant¡¯s contract was taken at the Mission level, without the delegated authority required by ST/AI/234 and was therefore unlawful. The post facto approval of the decision by the ASG/OHRM does not cure the unlawfulness.The Secretary-General¡¯s action of entering into a contract of employment with the Applicant for the reason only of securing termination indemnities for the Applicant does not appear to be supported by any Staff Regulation, Staff Rules or any known principles of an employment contract.The termination of the Applicant¡¯s appointment as a result of...

It was not disputed by the Applicant that what he contested was not a decision which was actually made. Rather, he challenged a possible decision (to require him to take a break in service) which would most likely be made by the United Nations Office at Geneva. The Tribunal considered that no decision had been made at the time when the Applicant filed his application. Consequently, the application was found irreceivable.

The Tribunal found that the contested decision did not appear prima facie unlawful and dismissed the application.

The Tribunal found that the contested decision did not appear prima facie unlawful and dismissed the application.

An application for a suspension of action is in the nature of an injunction, the purpose of which is to maintain the status quo between parties until the order lapses. Article 10 of the UNDT Statute states in no uncertain terms that there is no appeal against such an order. The Tribunal stated that the United Nations Appeals Tribunal (¡°UNAT¡±) had opened the door to an appeal against a Suspension of Action (¡°SOA¡±) decision by stating that the prohibition to an SOA appeal against a decision was an exception. UNAT meant thereby that it would be left at the discretion of the UNAT whether an appeal...

The Tribunal rescinded the contested decision and set the alternative amount of compensation at USD8,000. The Tribunal further awarded USD6,000 to the Applicant for moral damage suffered. Rescission/Alternative compensation: Pursuant to article 10.5(a) of the Tribunal¡¯s Statute, in a case concerning promotion, the Administration may choose either to implement the ruling annulling the contested decision or to pay the amount fixed as alternative compensation in lieu of rescission. In the first hypothesis, the selection procedure will be restarted and, if the Applicant applies and is eventually...

The Respondent appeared to have a good reason for cancelling the Applicant¡¯s leave. That having been said, however, the manner in which the Applicant was informed of that decision could have been done in a much better way. Considering the fact that the Applicant¡¯s supervisor had only three days earlier, on 9 August 2011, approved his leave, his one-line directive cancelling the Applicant¡¯s leave was not only callous and dismissive but most insensitive. This managerial shortcoming does not, by itself, render the decision prima facie unlawful.Although some harm is caused to the Applicant in...

Compensation for stress and anxiety The Applicant produced medical evidence of stress and anxiety. The Tribunal finds that this aspect of the claim is made out. Also, the actions of Mr. Stephen Lieberman, Chief Administrative Officer, described in the Tribunal¡¯s Judgment on liability, were high-handed and grossly disproportionate and the attempt at misleading both the JAB and JDC panels, as well as Counsel for the Respondent and the Tribunal in the present proceedings, constitute aggravating factors which the Tribunal finds heightened the distress experienced by the Applicant. In arriving at a...

The Tribunal recalled that the burden of proof lay on the Applicant and there was nothing on record to show that the contested decision was made on the ground of improper motives against the Applicant. On the contrary, it found that OCHA had acted in good faith.

The Tribunal finds that none of the applicable provisions prevented the renewal of fixed-term appointments for a period of less than a year. It further finds that the alignment policy was properly issued and rejects the Applicant¡¯s allegations of improper motives and discrimination. Terminology: renewal/extension: The wording of staff rule 4.12 and 4.13 shows an undifferentiated use of the terms ¡°renewal¡± and ¡°extension¡±. Delegation of authority: A delegation of power should not be guessed at or presumed. Organizational measure: A policy which consists, for a UN Secretariat office away from...

The Tribunal finds in favour of the Applicant and orders the Administration to carry out a new calculation of the 2009 staff assessment deductions that ought to be reimbursed to her, without taking into consideration her foreign tax credit. Rules governing taxation: In the Organization, as in most national systems, only the deliberative assembly may set the amount of taxes. While the executive power is responsible for setting procedural rules applicable to the collecting of taxes, it is not for that power to take decisions which modify the amount set by the assembly. Hierarchy of the...

The Tribunal finds that the restructuring constituted a valid exercise of the Respondent¡¯s discretionary authority, that the Applicant¡¯s post was not abolished as he was in fact reassigned against the same budgeted post, and that his reassignment was lawful. Definition of a ¡°post¡±: A ¡°post¡± may be defined as the financial authorization given for a job to be performed, irrespective of the fact that it may be funded through budgetary or extra budgetary sources. Discretion of the Secretary-General in the organization of work: The Secretary-General enjoys broad discretion in the organization of...

The Tribunal found: that the Applicant had established a case of prima facie unlawfulness; that the element of urgency was met and the harm suffered to the; Applicant¡¯s reputation and career prospects if the decision was implemented could not be adequately compensated by monetary damages.

Under art. 16(3) of the ICTR Statute, the Registrar of the ICTR is an Assistant Secretary-General. In his position as head of administration, he has the authority to make decisions on behalf of the Secretary-General in relation to the administration and operations of the ICTR. It was the Tribunal¡¯s finding that the Applicant had addressed his request for an administrative review to the ICTR Registrar, who was the person with the power to either review it on behalf of the Secretary-General or to forward it to the appropriate officer, within the applicable time limits. The Applicant had in...

Outcome: The Tribunal found that the Secretary-General acted properly within his broad discretion in deciding to take no action in relation to the Applicant¡¯s appeal against the non-renewal of his fixed-term appointment, and the appeal was dismissed.

Having observed the demeanour of the witnesses, examined and analyzed the evidence provided by the witnesses in support of the charge against the Applicant, the Tribunal finds the evidence credible, truthful and properly acted upon. The testimonies relied upon by the Respondent when imposing the disciplinary sanction against the Applicant are substantiated, corroborated and truthful. The evidence relied upon by the Respondent in this case sufficiently supports the charge against the Applicant of improperly soliciting and receiving monies from local citizens in exchange for their initial...

Receivability: In light of the Respondent¡¯s own arguments in this case, it should have been clear that the decision taken clearly falls within the type of decisions contemplated by art. 2.1 of the Tribunal¡¯s Statute. This Tribunal has moved toward a less rigid and more purposive interpretation of what constitutes an administrative decision and parties should not fail to take into account the developing case law of the Dispute Tribunal and the Appeals Tribunal. Incomplete applications: There may be cases where an application for sabbatical leave, while formally containing the documents and...

The ends of justice are not served but its processes stultified by requiring that an Applicant who had obtained judgment in his/her favour should seek management evaluation for enforcement or execution of the said judgment. An Applicant who refused to accept a cheque made out to her/him in time in fulfilment of a judgment sum cannot turn around to seek payment of interest on the said judgment sum on the grounds of delay. Having found that the monies awarded to the Applicant have been duly paid, the Tribunal rejects the Application in its entirety.

Article 2 first confers the Tribunal with the jurisdiction to determine, in any application filed by an individual before it, whether the contested decision is an ¡°administrative decision¡± and whether it was made in compliance with or contrary to an individual¡¯s terms of appointment or contract of employment. In other words, it is for the Tribunal to determine, inter alia, in any given case, whether a contested decision qualifies as an ¡°administrative decision¡± or not. As a matter of law and practice, a ¡°friend-of-court¡± brief is a legal position on the issues for determination before the...

Considering that the Respondent¡¯s allegation that the Applicant¡¯s contract was not renewed for unsatisfactory performance during the period 2009-2010, the Tribunal noted that the rating ¡°Partially meets performance expectations¡± had been considered by the Rebuttal Panel as unfair and changed to ¡°Fully meets performance expectations¡±. In the light of this finding the Tribunal took the view that the decision not to renew the Applicant¡¯s contract on the ground of unsatisfactory performance for the year 20092010 was prima facie unlawful.