Receivability ratione materiae: The Tribunal is only competent to consider applications against an administrative decision for which an applicant has requested management evaluation, where required. Failure to file a request for management evaluation prior to filing the application makes the latter irreceivable, ratione materiae.
The Dispute Tribunal found that the contested decision was lawful and rejected the application. Application of ST/AI/2010/5 on Performance Management and Development System: This administrative instruction does not apply to UNFPA, which is a separately administered fund, as it has not explicitly accepted its applicability, as per ST/SGB/2004/9 on Procedures for the promulgation of administrative issuances. Obligation to provide an opportunity to improve performance prior to non-renewal: Absent any specific provision in the applicable rules, the Organization has no legal obligation to take any...
UNDT held that the separation of female and male candidates for their comparative assessment and ranking at the Second Round constituted a fundamental error in the implementation of the Promotions Policy, and could not be justified by the High Commissioner’s decision to award an equal number of promotions to female and male staff members which was, in any event, announced towards the end of said Round. UNDT held that the exclusion of the e-PADs from the Panel members’ comparative assessment of the candidates during the Second Round constituted another fundamental procedural error in the...
UNDT held that the separation of female and male candidates for their comparative assessment and ranking at the Second Round constituted a fundamental error in the implementation of the Promotions Policy, and could not be justified by the High Commissioner’s decision to award an equal number of promotions to female and male staff members which was, in any event, announced towards the end of said Round. UNDT held that the exclusion of the e-PADs from the Panel members’ comparative assessment of the candidates during the Second Round constituted another fundamental procedural error in the...
Finding that the Applicant had been notified about the respective administrative decisions on 12 August 2014, and not in September 2014 as argued by the Applicant, the Tribunal concluded that the Applicant’s request for management evaluation, dated 6 November 2014, was not submitted timely. As a result, the Tribunal ruled that it had no jurisdiction to consider the respective contentions of the parties on the merits of the case and that the Applicant’s claim was not receivable. Management evaluation: the requirement of timely filing a request for management evaluation prior to submitting an...
The Tribunal noted that: (a) there was no female member in the assessment panel, (b) the panel’s evaluation of the candidates was substantially modified between its adoption by all three panel members and its scrutiny by the competent Central Review Committee (“CRC”), (c) the Hiring Manager failed to transmit his final recommendation to the decision-maker; instead the CRC Secretariat forwarded the selection record (with only one recommended candidate) to the decision-maker, and (d) the Applicant was not notified of his non-selection within the prescribed 14 days of the decision; rather, he...
The Tribunal determined that the matter put to it is the filling of a P-3 translator vacancy in RTS, UNOG, by a lateral transfer, under sec. 2.5 of ST/AI/2010/3, instead of through a competitive selection process, which would have then required the advertisement of a vacancy announcement for the concerned post on different grounds his non-selection for the post of Chief, Russian Translation Unit, UNON. This is a decision having direct effects on the Applicant’s rights, hence appealable before the Tribunal. The Tribunal ruled that filling a vacancy through a lateral transfer of a staff member...
Finding that the Applicant had been notified about the respective administrative decisions on 12 August 2014, and not in September 2014 as argued by the Applicant, the Tribunal concluded that the Applicant’s request for management evaluation, dated 6 November 2014, was not submitted timely. As a result, the Tribunal ruled that it had no jurisdiction to consider the respective contentions of the parties on the merits of the case and that the Applicant’s claim was not receivable. Management evaluation: the requirement of timely filing a request for management evaluation prior to submitting an...
The UNDT found that the contested decision was unlawful on the grounds that 1) the Organization committed several procedural errors in the implementation of the UNHCR Policy and Procedures for the Promotion of International Professional Staff Members (UNHCR/HCP/2014/2) (“Promotions Policy”), some of which resulted in a failure to take into account relevant information or to take into account irrelevant considerations; and 2) the Organization failed to minimally show that the Applicant’s candidacy for promotion received fair and full consideration. Standard of review: In the context of a...
Termination of permanent appointment in case of post abolition: A decision to terminate a permanent appointment of a General Service staff member, taken on the basis of a decision by the General Assembly to abolish all posts in the category of that encumbered by the Applicant is legal, provided that no post at the mission remains for which the Applicant could potentially have been considered.Staff consultation: An essential element of consultation is that each party have the opportunity to make the other party aware of its views. However, consultations are not negotiations and it is not...
