51ÁÔÆæ

UNAT noted that UNDT¡¯s review of the factual situation by necessity involved consideration of issues beyond the mere fact of the non-renewal of the Appellant¡¯s contract and, thus, found no merit in the Appellant¡¯s submission that UNDT¡¯s deliberations on the issue of non-renewal took place in isolation of the facts surrounding the decision. With respect to the Appellant¡¯s contention that UNDT failed to account for the negative impact of the non-renewal of his personal and professional life, UNAT found no error in the Secretary-General¡¯s exercise of discretion to take action to address the...

UNAT considered the appeal, in which the Appellant contended that exceptional circumstances existed that would merit a waiver of the time limit, allowing his application to be admitted. UNAT noted that, in such an instance, it is the applicant¡¯s responsibility to convince the tribunal of such circumstances. UNAT found that the Appellant did not overcome this hurdle before UNDT and held that UNDT did not err in rejecting the Appellant¡¯s contentions that he had exceptional circumstances. UNAT further held that ignorance of the law is no excuse and the Appellant¡¯s reliance on erroneous advice...

UNAT considered an appeal limited to the claim that UNDT ordered inadequate compensation for the losses he sustained as a result of various acts and omissions on the part of the Administration. UNAT found that UNDT took due regard for the arguments the Appellant brought in his appeal and that UNDT, having regarded the parameters of what it could compensate the Appellant for, made adequate provisions for the Appellant¡¯s economic and social losses in its overall award to him. UNAT dismissed the appeal and upheld the UNDT judgment.

UNAT noted that only circumstances beyond an applicant¡¯s control that prevented them from timely exercising the right of appeal may be considered ¡°exceptional circumstances,¡± justifying a waiver of the statutory time limit. UNAT noted that an applicant¡¯s initial mistaken belief that decisions were lawful cannot be deemed to constitute exceptional circumstances justifying a waiver of the time limit to appeal those decisions, especially when they had every means of obtaining information from the Administration. UNAT was not persuaded by the Appellant¡¯s arguments upon appeal and did not find any...

UNAT considered Mr Al Sayyed¡¯s appeal and found that the decision to terminate his service, effective from close of business 15 December 2007, and as communicated to him on 30 November 2007, was superseded by the action he took on 4 December 2007, an action reinforced by him on 7 January 2008. Under these circumstances, UNAT held that UNRWA did not err in dismissing Mr Al Sayyed¡¯s appeal against his termination on the basis that there was no termination decision capable of review. UNAT dismissed the appeal.

UNAT considered Mr Elguindi, Ms Onogi and Ms Sheryda¡¯s separate appeals. With respect to Mr Elguindi¡¯s claim, UNAT did not find that the manner in which UNJSPF apportioned his monthly pension sum to be unreasonable, capricious or an abuse of discretion. With respect to Ms Onogi¡¯s claim of procedural defects, UNAT was not persuaded that there were procedural flaws on the part of UNJSPF such as to render the exercise of its discretion unreasonable or unlawful. UNAT also did not find merit in Mr Elguindi¡¯s claim of ¡°double-dipping¡± in his opposition to Ms Onogi¡¯s claim for relief from UNJSPF...

UNAT held that UNDT did not err in law or in fact in its assessment that the issue before it was the amount of compensation. UNAT held that UNDT¡¯s approach in considering the Appellant¡¯s prospects of success was entirely reasonable in the particular circumstances of the case. UNAT held that it was not the function of UNDT or UNAT to take on the substantive role with which the interview panel was charged and to find that the Appellant was the only qualified candidate. UNAT recalled that the jurisdiction vested in UNDT is to review alleged procedural deficiencies and to rectify any which are...

UNAT held that UNDT properly determined that the issue before it was the failure of the Administration to address the Appellant¡¯s formal complaint. UNAT held that there was no error of law or failure to exercise jurisdiction on the part of UNDT with regard to the Appellant¡¯s request for an investigation. UNAT held that it was satisfied that the award by UNDT of USD 40,000 constituted sufficient satisfaction for the Appellant. UNAT held that UNDT correctly refused to entertain the request for compensation for economic loss because the Appellant¡¯s separation from service was not the subject of...

UNAT was satisfied that the UNDT¡¯s pronouncement that the clear purpose and intent of Staff Regulation 5.3 was to restrict the entitlement to home leave to those who are serving the UN outside of their home country and by implication their country of nationality, was the correct interpretation. UNAT held that there was no error in law with regard to the UNDT¡¯s approach on the issue of home leave. UNAT held, as a matter of law and fact, that UNDT properly concluded that the Appellant¡¯s move to his country of nationality was a good reason for the Secretary-General to reassess his eligibility for...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT held that it was satisfied that the UNDT¡¯s conclusion that Ms Frechon was incapable of further service, based on the findings of the Medical Board, was not tantamount to UNDT having stepped into the shoes of the UN Medical Director. UNAT held that there were no grounds to disagree with the finding of UNDT that Ms Frechon¡¯s contract was, in fact, terminated for medical reasons. UNAT held that the procedure which should have been invoked was that set out in ST/AI/1999/16. UNAT held that UNDT was correct in rescinding the decision to...