51ÁÔÆæ

The Tribunal found that the application was irreceivable as time-barred; it was also without merit because the alleged conflict of interest was not deemed to exist. Independent status: Bodies endowed with an independent status are integrated in the structure of the Organization and, whilst they may not receive instructions from their chain of command in performing the tasks entrusted to them, they are not entirely detached from the Secretary-General¡¯s authority. Administrative decisions: The Tribunal is not competent to examine the legality of acts other than administrative decisions. Redress...

The Tribunal raises on its own motion the question of the receivability ratione materiae, namely whether the OIOS decision was an appealable administrative decision. On the merits, it finds that the OIOS decision is lawful. Tribunal¡¯s obligation to raise on its own motion issues related to its competence: Before ruling on the legality of a decision, the Tribunal must examine on its own motion¡ªthat is, even if the issue was not raised by the parties¡ªwhether it is competent, pursuant to its Statute, to hear and pass judgment on an application, including whether the contested decision is an...

The Tribunal found that the Applicant was not a staff member of the United Nations, but rather a member of UN police force (UNPOL), which was an international law enforcement entity separately administered outside the UN Secretariat. The Tribunal therefore, held that in view of the established law, articles 2.1 and 3.1 of the Statute of the Tribunal, the application was not receivable. The Tribunal was not competent to entertain it. Accordingly, the application was dismissed as non-receivable.

The UNDT found that the policy or practice had no legal basis in any of the norms of the Organization and was thus unlawful. The Tribunal ordered the rescission of the policy in relation to the Applicant and moral damages of three months¡¯ net base salary. Enforcement of an unlawful policy or practice: Reports of the Fifth Committee do not carry the same legal force as General Assembly Resolutions. The Secretary-General is also not mandated, in the absence of an express statutory provision, to incorporate into a staff member¡¯s terms of employment any policy or recommendation from a Committee...

The UNDT stated several hurdles to the receivability of the present application, including with respect to receivability ratione personae, ratione temporis, and ratione materiae, although the UNDT also found that on the papers filed some of these issues would ordinarily warrant further examination had the application not been manifestly inadmissible. The UNDT found that the application was manifestly inadmissible because the Applicant failed 51ÁÔÆæ the statutory requirement of submitting a request for management evaluation of the contested decision prior to filing an application with...

The application is not receivable as it was not submitted to the Management Evaluation Unit (¡°MEU¡±) within the sixty calendar days time limit in staff rule 11.2(c). The Tribunal notes that the Applicant¡¯s request for management evaluation was limited to requesting the payment of certain benefits as a result of the non-renewal of her contract and did not, as per the submission to the UNDT, contest the actual non-renewal of her contract.The Applicant did not contest the findings of the OAI report before the MEU prior to submitting them to the UNDT. These claims are therefore not properly before...

Management evaluation: The Applicant requested management evaluation of each of the administrative decisions that he challenged before the Tribunal. Mediation: the Tribunal found that mediation was sought by the Respondent regarding the proposed disciplinary measure of demotion but the discussion between the Applicant and the ombudsman, went beyond the scope of the demotion. Mediation was sought within the deadline for filing the Application. The time for filling an Application starts from the date when mediation breaks down therefore the application was filed within the applicable time limits...

Appealable administrative decision: Both the determination that a ruling on a request for recusal should be issued in the form of an order or of a judgment and the decision to publish such rulings on the Tribunal¡¯s website are matters of internal organization which do not constitute acts adversely affecting staff members¡¯ rights.

Starting date of the 90-day time limit to file an application: The UNDT Statute prescribes that an application before the Tribunal must be filed within 90 days following receipt of the Administration¡¯s response to the request for management evaluation. If the Administration replies after the response period for the management evaluation but before the expiry of the 90-day period, the 90-day period to file an application before the Tribunal starts running again from the date the response is given. Evaluation criteria: It is clear from ST/AI/2006/3/Rev.1 and the Guidelines for programme case...

Receivability: For an application to be receivable, it must clearly identify the contested decision and be preceded by a request for management evaluation, where management evaluation is required.