51ÁÔÆæ

The Tribunal's findings were as follows:

The impugned decision related to the use of the performance appraisal to penalize the Applicant.

It had jurisdiction to review an impugned decision which meets the requirements under art. 2.1(a) of the UNDT Statute.

The performance appraisal was conducted and completed with a "successfully meets expectations" rating by the Applicant¡¯s FRO and endorsed by her SRO. This was a unilateral decision made in a precise individual case. This decision was final and binding in accordance with sections 15.1 and 15.7 of ST/AI/2010/5 which precluded the Applicant...

The Tribunal finds that the Respondent¡¯s explanation as to why the Applicant¡¯s post was the one chosen for abolition is well substantiated. There was a genuine large scale restructuring due to severe budget cuts, which resulted in other staff members being separated from service, including the Applicant, and there was a legitimate explanation for the recruitments and vacancies that were not cancelled. The presumption of regularity was satisfied. Since the Applicant cannot convincingly show why his post should not have been abolished even though the posts of dozens of other staff members...

UNAT disagreed. First, the Tribunal reasoned that the JAB did not engage in a critical analysis of the facts of the case and did not apply the law to the facts in order to ascertain whether the exercise of discretion was lawful. UNAT concluded that the JAB Decision was arbitrary and did not meet the minimum requirements of providing a reasoned analysis. Second, on the merits, UNAT found the Administration did not notify the staff member of his shortcomings in sufficient time. Neither did It provide the staff member with explicit measures against which his performance would be evaluated. Third...

UNAT considered the Secretary-General¡¯s appeals against UNDT decisions ordering the suspension of the contested decisions beyond the deadline for management evaluation. UNAT clarified that, generally, only appeals against final judgments would be receivable, because otherwise, cases would seldom proceed if either party was dissatisfied with a procedural ruling. Article 2.2 of the UNDT Statute authorizes UNDT to order suspension of a contested decision only ¡°during the pendency of the management evaluation¡±. UNAT found that UNDT exceeded its jurisdiction in ordering suspension of the contested...

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 UNDT had not erred in concluding that the Administration¡¯s decision, to take into consideration in the context of the Appellant¡¯s 2009-2010 performance appraisal events post-dating 31 March 2010, was superseded by the Administration¡¯s subsequent change of approach. UNAT held that UNDT had correctly determined that the Appellant¡¯s claims in this regard had become moot. UNAT held that, in rendering the Appellant¡¯s complaint about the rebuttal issue moot considering the subsequent reversal of the decision of 24 November 2010, UNDT had failed to give sufficient weight to a central...

UNAT emphasised the importance of performance appraisals and noted that there appeared to be a pattern of delays in completing those of the Appellant. UNAT held that, given the present circumstances of the case, the award of USD 3,000 was manifestly insufficient and increased the compensation to three months¡¯ net base pay. UNAT allowed the appeal to the extent that it pertained to compensation.

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT held that, at the time UNICEF sought to make the correction from termination to non-renewal, the staff member was already separated from service, and it was, therefore, too late to reverse the decision. UNAT affirmed UNDT¡¯s finding that the staff member¡¯s separation from service was termination on grounds of alleged unsatisfactory performance and that the Administration¡¯s decision to reverse the decision was untimely and ineffective. UNAT held that there was no reason to reverse UNDT¡¯s finding that the staff member had been deprived of a...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT held that UNDT erred in excluding documents from the OSF and by ordering compensation for alleged damages not related to any established illegality. UNAT held that, even if the irregularities and delays in the appraisal procedure were so serious that they rendered the ¡­ evaluations meaningless, it did not mean that they should not be kept in the OSF. UNAT held that they, together with the corrective substitute reports or decisions, should all be kept in order to explain the whole process. UNAT, therefore, held that UNDT had erred in...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT rejected the request for an oral hearing since the issues for decision had been clearly defined by the parties¡¯ submissions. UNAT held that the Secretary-General had failed to persuade it that UNDT erred on a question of fact resulting in a manifestly unreasonable decision. UNAT held that it was correct to conclude that the Administration had acted unlawfully when it did not renew the staff member¡¯s appointment because there was not enough evidence to support a determination that the staff member had failed to perform his functions. UNAT...