UNDT/2025/090

UNAT Held or UNDT Pronouncements

The Respondent��s motion for summary judgment was granted.
The application was dismissed in its entirety as not receivable.

Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed

The Applicant is a former Information Management Associate with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in its Multi-Country Office in Pretoria, South Africa. In May 2023, the Applicant was the subject of an investigation into misconduct for altering and submitting an official travel authorization form for an official mission. As a result of that investigation, on 25 October 2023, she received a disciplinary sanction of three steps demotion and deferment of promotion for two years. The Applicant seeks a review and write-off of the disciplinary measure.

Legal Principle(s)

The Appeals Tribunal has long held that the Dispute Tribunal ��is competent to review its own jurisdiction.�� O��Neill 2011-UNAT-182, para.31. Furthermore, ��in assessing its own competence, the Dispute Tribunal can choose to proceed by way of summary judgment.�� Kazazi 2015-UNAT-557, para. 42. 21. Article 9 of the Dispute Tribunal Rules of Procedure addresses summary judgment. Specifically, it provides that A party may move for summary judgement when there is no dispute as to the material facts of the case and a party is entitled to judgement as a matter of law.

The Dispute Tribunal may determine, on its own initiative, that summary judgement is appropriate. In this case, there was no dispute as to the material facts. Hence the Tribunal deems it appropriate to determine this application by way of summary judgment proprio motu pursuant to art. 9 of its Rules of Procedure.

A request for suspension or waiver of the time limit must be submitted by the applicant prior to filing an application in order for the Tribunal to have jurisdiction to consider whether exceptional circumstances exist and to exercise its discretion.

Outcome

Dismissed as not receivable

Outcome Extra Text

Motion for Summary Judgment granted. The matter was dismissed in its entirety as not receivable.

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The judgment summaries were generally prepared in English. They were translated into French and are being reviewed for accuracy of the translation.

Applicants/Appellants

Sizakele Verona Myeni

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