The Applicant alleged that the selection exercise was procedurally flawed and biased against him. The UNDT found that the candidates’ answers on the written tests were marked by an assessor who did not know the identities of the candidates. The UNDT found that the Applicant was not prejudiced by the manner in which the test was carried out. The UNDT found the Applicant’s claims unsubstantiated and dismissed the application.
The UNDT found that the post in question was a New York-based post to be assigned to the Entebbe office “subject to finalisation of arrangements for the initiation of a Regional Procurement Office”. This post was filled through a selection exercise that was finalized when the offer of appointment was made to Mr. YK in April 2011. The movement of the selected staff member, along with his post, to Entebbe was not a lateral move or a new recruitment, but rather implementation of the selected staff member’s terms of appointment in line with the vacancy announcement that provided that recruitment...
The Tribunal found that the decision was lawful and that the case file did not allow concluding that it was tainted by favoritism for the selected, external candidate, inter alia, since the HM had initially recommended an internal candidate. Procedural irregularities: The decision not to convoke a shortlisted, internal candidate, who was not recommended by the HM, for a test and/or interview is in accordance with the applicable rules at UNHCR. UNHCR policy on comparative review is not applicable in cases of non-selection not involving the abolition of post. Discretionary authority: In...
The UNDT found that the decision of USG/DM was proper and lawful because the Applicant did not possess a University degree or the relevant experience as set out in the Vacancy Announcement (VA) of the post to which he had applied. While the VA required an Advanced University degree or a first level University degree with a relevant combination of academic qualifications as well as at least seven years’ experience in administration and human resources or financial/ budget operations, the Applicant had none of these. Equivalence of qualifications to University degrees: Considering that United...
The Applicant was considered for one of the VA under review as a roster candidate, but not selected. The Applicant subsequently applied to another of the VA under review, but that VA was cancelled. The P-5 post opened under that VA was subsequently re-advertised, one day after the Applicant’s status as a roster candidate had expired. The new VA was accessible to the public only for one day and the Administration selected a roster candidate, who had been the only candidate who had applied during the one-day opening of the VA. The Applicant did not have a chance to apply for the re-advertised...
Selection processes: An appointing officer may decline to make an appointment where a selection process is marred by irregularities. It is within the competence of a program manager to set up a new interview panel where an initial interview panel has failed to properly discharge its mandate. While a candidate to a post has no right to be selected, he or she has every right to be fully and fairly considered for the post.Recommendation for a post is not the same thing as selection; while there is discretion in selection, there is no discretion in recommendation. Central Review Bodies: The...
The UNDT found that the Applicant was unable to prove that the selection process was biased against him and that the consideration of his candidacy was marred by significant errors or procedural violations that would vitiate the selection process or resulted in a failure to give him proper consideration. The application was dismissed.
Improper motives: Whilst it is permissible for the drafters of a job opening to deviate from previously established evaluation criteria where circumstances demand it, the deviation must not be actuated by bad faith or improper motives. The Tribunal concluded that the deviation from the established criteria in this case with respect to the subject Job Opening No. 21952 was informed by the desire of the incumbent of the post with the active support of the Hiring Manager to ensure that the recruitment process in respect of the Job Opening was aborted and she was retained in service beyond the...
The Tribunal found that the contested decision was lawful and that the selected candidate met the required work experience for the post. Computation of part-time experience: The conversion of part-time work experience to relevant work experience is within the discretion of the administration as long as the method used is not arbitrary or irregular. Written tests: Though there are no established rules and or guidelines for the rating system and the distribution of points for a written test exercise, a hiring manager has discretion in developing a standard to be used to govern the awarding of...
The Applicant submitted that seeing that the Secretary-General of the United Nations does not have any authority over staff rules at the UNJSPF, the Pension Fund is not precluded from employing a candidate that was rejected by OHRM. The UNDT found that the UNJSPF and OHRM correctly applied the legal provisions by considering that OHRM was responsible for administering the selection process for a post located in the UNJSPF and that the Applicant was not eligible for the post due to the fact that he held a post at a G-4 grade whereas the post to which he had applied was at the G-7 grade, three...
