51ÁÔÆæ

UNAT had before it an appeal of judgment No. UNDT/2015/006. As a preliminary matter, UNAT considered a motion to seek to leave to postpone consideration of the Appellant¡¯s appeal due to lack of legal representation. UNAT agreed with the Secretary-General¡¯s claim that the Motion filed by the Appellant was an additional supplemental pleading addressing the merits of his claims. UNAT held that the Appellant had not shown exceptional circumstances justifying the filing of an additional pleading or good cause to postpone consideration of his appeal and his request was denied. UNAT held that UNDT...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Appellant of judgment No. UNRWA/DT/2015/003. UNAT held that the Appellant failed to demonstrate that UNRWA DT erred in any way when it dismissed her application finding it to be moot, an outcome which was a natural consequence of the administrative rescission of the impugned decision, circumstances that contemplated the staff member¡¯s claim and rights, solving the previous irregularity. UNAT noted that the Appellant¡¯s request to amend her application to seek compensation for material and moral damages was filed after she had received notification of the...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT held that UNDT erred in law and fact in ordering the refund of the recovery of the overpayments for two months. UNAT held that Ms Ten Have was aware of the overpayment in April 2013 and therefore, the general rule of Section 3. 1 of ST/AI//2009/1 was applicable and the recovery of the two months overpayments was not excessive since the limit of two years could not be applied due to the staff member¡¯s awareness of the overpayments as of April 2013, regardless of her previous ignorance or bona fide. UNAT also held that as no request for...

UNAT held that the allegations of irregularity raised by the Appellant were supported by evidence. UNAT noted that it was hard to comprehend how the Appellant¡¯s post suddenly became redundant when at the same time around 75 per cent of its functions were to be transferred to a consultant. UNAT further noted that even though the new organisational structure was not approved until September 2013, as early as June 2013, the abolition of the Appellant¡¯s post had already been decided and was communicated to him by his supervisor, against whom the Appellant filed a complaint of abuse of power. UNAT...

UNAT held that it was disingenuous for UNRWA to suggest that the Appellant¡¯s transfer application was considered in the same manner as the two candidates who were selected from the roster. UNAT held that UNRWA DT failed to properly exercise the jurisdiction vested in it and erred in law in failing to have regard to the Appellant¡¯s due process entitlements. UNAT held that UNRWA DT erred in law in relying on the authority of the Director of UNRWA Affairs, Lebanon, to reject the Appellant¡¯s application for assignment. UNAT did not uphold the contention that the Appellant had a legitimate...

The issue for determination by UNAT was whether the relevant date for the filing of the Secretary-General¡¯s appeal ran from the date on which the ALS received the UNDT judgment in its capacity as counsel of record for the Secretary-General before UNDT or the date on which the judgment was received by the OLA, the Secretary-General¡¯s counsel of record before UNAT. UNAT held that in the absence of any published UNDT rule or practice direction which decreed that transmission of UNDT judgments be made to OLA, it was not permissible for the Secretary-General to seek to rely on the date when the...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. On the award of costs, UNAT held that the calling of a witness in good faith and with the reasonable aim to bolster the views of the Administration did not constitute an abuse of process warranting the award of legal costs and granted the appeal on that point. UNAT dismissed the Secretary-General¡¯s appeal of the award of prospective compensation of the monetary equivalent of the Special Post Allowance for an uncertain duration. UNAT found no merit in the Secretary-General¡¯s appeal against the award of compensation for loss of opportunity...

As a preliminary matter, UNAT found that there were no exceptional circumstances to warrant the granting of the Appellant¡¯s motion for leave to file a reply to the Commissioner-General¡¯s answer and denied the motion. UNAT held that the UNRWA¡¯s findings that the application was not receivable ratione temporis because it was filed more than three years after the receipt of the termination decision and that UNRWA DT had no discretion to waive the regulatory time limit of three years, were unassailable. UNAT held that UNRWA DT correctly found that the application was not receivable ratione...

UNAT had before it an appeal of the Commissioner-General and a cross-appeal of Ms Salem. UNAT held that the procedural errors did not amount to an abuse of power. UNAT held that absent an abuse of power, the compensation for moral damages had to be vacated. UNAT granted the appeal, rejected the cross-appeal, and vacated the UNRWA DT judgment in its entirety.

UNAT had before it the Secretary-General¡¯s appeal against judgment Nos. UNDT/2013/004 (judgment on receivability) and UNDT/2013/128 (judgment on the merits). UNAT held that there was no reason to upset the UNDT¡¯s finding that the parties sought the mediation of their dispute and were within the deadlines for filing an application. UNAT held, affirming UNDT¡¯s finding, that the Applicant¡¯s application was receivable by UNDT. Noting that the Applicant commenced employment with UNICEF less than three months after her separation and with no reduction in level or step from her previous role, UNAT...