51ÁÔÆæ

The Tribunal rescinded the contested decision and set the alternative amount of compensation at USD8,000. The Tribunal further awarded USD6,000 to the Applicant for moral damage suffered. Rescission/Alternative compensation: Pursuant to article 10.5(a) of the Tribunal¡¯s Statute, in a case concerning promotion, the Administration may choose either to implement the ruling annulling the contested decision or to pay the amount fixed as alternative compensation in lieu of rescission. In the first hypothesis, the selection procedure will be restarted and, if the Applicant applies and is eventually...

The Tribunal finds in favour of the Applicant and orders the Administration to carry out a new calculation of the 2009 staff assessment deductions that ought to be reimbursed to her, without taking into consideration her foreign tax credit. Rules governing taxation: In the Organization, as in most national systems, only the deliberative assembly may set the amount of taxes. While the executive power is responsible for setting procedural rules applicable to the collecting of taxes, it is not for that power to take decisions which modify the amount set by the assembly. Hierarchy of the...

The Tribunal finds that the restructuring constituted a valid exercise of the Respondent¡¯s discretionary authority, that the Applicant¡¯s post was not abolished as he was in fact reassigned against the same budgeted post, and that his reassignment was lawful. Definition of a ¡°post¡±: A ¡°post¡± may be defined as the financial authorization given for a job to be performed, irrespective of the fact that it may be funded through budgetary or extra budgetary sources. Discretion of the Secretary-General in the organization of work: The Secretary-General enjoys broad discretion in the organization of...

Prima facie unlawfulness Having reviewed the Applicant¡¯s performance evaluations, the Tribunal had doubts as to whether the Applicant¡¯s direct supervisors were indeed consulted before the lieutenants finalized and gave to the Applicant the performance evaluation forms on 9 June 2011. Absent an explanation from the Respondent on this particular point, these doubts had a direct impact on the lawfulness of the contested decision. If indeed the Administration did not follow its accepted and reasonable practice, the decision not to extend the Applicant¡¯s appointment due to his poor performance...

An offer of employment and its acceptance amount to an agreement entailing rights for the Applicant: The contract by which an individual acquires staff member status can only be concluded validly on the date at which an official of the Organization signs the staff member¡¯s letter of appointment. However, as the Appeals Tribunal held, ¡°this does not mean that an offer of employment never produces any legal effects. Unconditional acceptance by a candidate of the conditions of the offer of an appointment before the issuance of a letter of employment can form a valid contract, provided the...

Regarding the first VA, the Applicant was not short-listed for interview, as only 30-day candidates as per ST/AI/2002/4 were. As to the second VA, the Tribunal deemed established that the president of the panel, without consultation with the other two members, already told the Applicant at the end of his interview that he would not be recommended as he did not speak Russian, a competency which was desirable but not required by the VA; he also told him immediately after the interview that he had little chance of being selected within the service he was working in. Concerning the third VA, which...

The Tribunal rejected the application on the ground that the Applicant is not a UN staff member and therefore does not have access to the Tribunal. Status of STL staff members: While article 12 of the STL Statute explicitly provides that the ¡°Registrar shall be a staff member of the United Nations¡±, there is no such reference for other high-ranking officials such as the Judges or the Prosecutor, nor for any other ¡°Lebanese and international staff¡± of the STL. From the wording of both the Statute and the Agreement between the United Nations and the Lebanese Republic on the establishment of the...

The Tribunal finds that the Administration erred in considering that no classification decision had been taken. It further finds that the Applicant duly followed the procedure foreseen in ST/AI/1998/9 and that she was deprived of her right to a remedy. Turning to the question whether such breach resulted in loss of a chance to have her post classified at the P-4 level, the Tribunal considers that the Applicant has not shown that she suffered any actual material harm, given the uncertainty surrounding a possible approval of the new budgetary post by OPPBA and the General Assembly. However, it...

Confirmative decisions: When a staff member repeats the same request to the Administration, only the first decision denying it is subject to appeal; the time limits for appeal start running from that first decision. Subsequent refusals are confirmative decisions which do not have the effect of restarting the running of time limits.

Selection process: According to the APPB Procedural Guidelines, the APPB may recommend to the High Commissioner an eligible candidate who has not necessarily been proposed by the manager and the High Commissioner, in the exercise of his discretionary power, is not obliged to endorse the APPB recommendation and may appoint a staff member to a post provided s/he is eligible and her/his candidacy has been examined by the APPB. In the case at hand, the Applicant was not recommended by the Representative and this is the main reason for his non-appointment. The Tribunal has only a limited role in...