51ÁÔÆæ

The Tribunal noted that the case was one of the cases provided for under Section 4.2 of ST/SGB/2009/11 on transitional measures. At the outset, the Tribunal declared the application irreceivable with respect to any claim which had not been raised previously in the request for review to the Secretary-General. The Tribunal further raised ex officio the issue of the receivability ratione personae of the application since the decision not to select the Applicant to the post was taken when the Applicant was a former staff member. The Tribunal noted that article 3, paragraph 1 (b), of the UNDT...

Time limits for contesting administrative decisions are well known and widespread instruments in administrative law, both in national and in international jurisdictions. Compared to the time limits in some national and international systems, the time limits in the UN justice system remain within a reasonable frame. As for exceptions, ¡°exceptional cases¡± arise from exceptional personal circumstances. Relevant factors for an Applicant¡¯s failure to act within the prescribed time limits are confined to his individual capacities. Factors like the prospects of success on the merits and the...

Paragraph 19 of the APPC Procedural Regulations of June 2006 states that only staff members who have served for a minimum of one year in their post are eligible to apply for vacancies. The Applicant claims that the contested decision dated 29 February 2008 to appoint 12 staff members to vacant posts affects her rights since these vacant posts were not advertised. However, in accordance with the above-mentioned provision, at the time the 12 staff members were appointed, the Applicant was not eligible to any of these posts as she had been appointed only in September 2007. Therefore, without it...

Paragraph 19 of the APPC Procedural Regulations of June 2006 states that only staff members who have served for a minimum of one year in their post are eligible to apply for vacancies.The Applicant claims that the contested decision dated 29 February 2008 to appoint 12 staff members to vacant posts affects his rights since these vacant posts were not advertised. However, in accordance with the above-mentioned provision, at the time the 12 staff members were appointed, the Applicant was not eligible to any of these posts as he had been appointed only in September 2007. Therefore, without it...

Chapter 6.3.1 of the UNHCR Staff Administraion and Management Manual (SAMM) provides that ¡°staff members on active duty who hold an indefinite or a fixed-term appointment will be entitled to maternity leave with full pay for a total period of 16 weeks comprising a pre-natal and a post-natal period. When the expiry date of a staff member¡¯s fixed-term appointment, which is not considered for renewal, falls before the beginning of the six-week period prior to the delivery date, there will be no entitlement to maternity leave¡±.The Applicant¡¯s contract expired on 31 December 2006. At that time, she...

A single testimony reporting discriminatory statements made by an individual is insufficient to establish whether such statements were made if the accused individual denies having made such statements. From the moment that a confrontational relationship exists between a senior staff member and his/her supervisor, the Judge, without its being necessary to determine who bears a responsibility of the conflict, considers that the interest of the service requires addressing without delay the conflict and justifies the non-renewal of the staff member¡¯s contract, unless, in the instant case, the...

Reassignments: Staff regulation 1.2 grants broad discretion to the Secretary-General in making reassignment decisions. However, such discretionary power is not unfettered: it is subject to respect for due process, and the absence of bias, discrimination, arbitrariness, or other extraneous motivations. While section 2.4 ST/AI/2006/3.Rev.1 envisages only lateral transfers to vacant posts, it does not preclude other kinds of transfer to be lawfully made. The decision contested in the present case does not contravene the said section 2.4, but falls beyond this provision¡¯s purview and, therefore...

The Tribunal finds that both appraisal processes are tainted with procedural flaws. The first performance appraisal did not result in new ratings being given by the rebuttal panel. The second performance appraisal was based in part on the earlier assessment and it did not give sufficient time to the Applicant to improve his performance. Though the Administration is not bound to apply administrative instruction ST/AI/2002/3 to evaluate the performance of 300 series staff members, once it has decided to apply the administrative instruction, the latter must be fully complied with. In the present...

The Tribunal found that there was no evidence that the transfer decision was arbitrary or based on improper motives. Administrative review/management evaluation: Requests for administrative review or management evaluation are mandatory first steps in the appeal process. In the case at hand, the only decision that was the subject of a request for management evaluation, and that is therefore properly before the Tribunal, is the decision to transfer the Applicant laterally from Cairo to Abu Dhabi. The Applicant¡¯s arguments regarding the unlawfulness of the decision to abolish his post and of...