51ÁÔÆæ

On the Appellant¡¯s claims of discriminatory and arbitrary practices, UNAT did not find that UNDT committed any error of law or procedure of any factual error such as to result in a manifestly unreasonable decision and UNDT¡¯s findings demonstrated that it took cognisance of all relevant information. UNAT held that there was no error by UNDT in holding that it was for the High Commissioner to determine the relative importance of the criteria to use for promotion. UNAT held that UNDT did not err in law or fact when it determined that the Appellant was afforded proper consideration and in finding...

UNAT held that the Appellant had not established any error in fact or law emerging from the impugned judgment. UNAT noted that the Appellant did not challenge the competitive procedure¡¯s final administrative act since he only began to contest the Administration¡¯s actions when the selected candidate was laterally moved, and another rostered candidate was appointed as a replacement. UNAT held that the Appellant¡¯s rights as a staff member were linked to the administrative decision that completed the selection procedure and that, as such, any breach of his rights could only be caused by that...

UNAT considered the Secretary-General¡¯s appeal. UNAT rejected the Secretary-General¡¯s submission that UNDT erred in ¡°double-counting¡± by using the same element of Mr Andersson¡¯s high chance of promotion to justify both its award of CHF 10,000 in lieu of rescission, as well as its award of CHF 4,000 for moral damages. The claim for moral damages was related to the reparation of an injury, that could not be regarded as covered by the payment of CHF 10,000 awarded as an alternative to rescission. UNAT also rejected the Secretary-General¡¯s submission that Mr Andersson only fleetingly referred to...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT considered that UNDT failed to show proper consideration for judicial economy and efficiency by choosing to proceed with a hearing on the merits of Mr Cooke¡¯s application in full knowledge of an appeal by the Secretary-General and ignoring the possibility that its judgment on Receivability might be reversed, as it was. UNAT held that when it determines that UNDT improperly received an application and reverses or vacates a judgment on receivability, any judgment on the merits is null and void ab initio. UNAT clarified that this did not...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General against judgment No. UNDT/2012/159; an appeal by the ¡°Applicant¡± (anonymity granted) against judgment No. UNDT/2013/079; and a cross-appeal by the Secretary-General of judgment No. UNDT/2013/079. On receivability, UNAT considered the Secretary-General¡¯s case that UNDT erred on the issue of receivability as the non-disciplinary issues contested by the Applicant were never submitted for management evaluation. UNAT held that UNDT, in deciding that the non-disciplinary issues had been submitted for management evaluation, erred in law and in fact...

UNAT held that UNDT correctly concluded that the placement of the Appellant on SLWOP enabled him to preserve his pension benefits, granted him the opportunity of remaining a staff member for the purpose of applying as an internal candidate for other positions, and made his relocation possible. UNAT held that there was no abuse of authority or deliberate attempt to harm, as argued by the Appellant, but rather the Organisation adopted a protective approach. Noting that, due to the downsizing exercise related to the Appellant¡¯s post and his reassignment, he was not entitled to SLWFP and his...

UNAT held that UNDT did not commit any error when it determined that the application before it was not receivable as it was time-barred. UNAT noted that it was technically improper for UNDT to analyse the merits of the case after declaring the application time-barred. UNAT held that even if the appeal had been receivable ratione temporis, the Appellant¡¯s claim could not succeed. UNAT held that the Appellant merely made statements and referred to facts that were not timely contested, without providing any evidence or contesting the reasoning of the first instance judgment. UNAT dismissed the...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT held that it could not sustain the conclusion of UNDT that Mr Koutang¡¯s actions did not amount to misconduct. UNAT held that the sanction imposed was not unreasonable, absurd, or disproportionate and, as such, UNAT held that it was a reasonable exercise of the Administration¡¯s broad discretion in disciplinary matters. UNAT held that UNDT erred in finding the sanction disproportionate and in substituting its opinion for that of the Administration. UNAT allowed the appeal and vacated the UNDT judgment.

UNAT held that the UNDT judgment was not manifestly unreasonable in concluding that the date upon which the Appellant was on notice that he had received a response from the Management Evaluation Unit (MEU) or that it was his responsibility to read the MEU response as soon as possible. On the question of whether UNDT erred in law and/or failed to exercise its jurisdiction in declining to consider the case on the merits, UNAT held that, in the absence of a prior written request for a suspension or waiver of the time limit for filing his application, UNDT was not competent to consider the issue...

The Tribunal, referring to O¡¯Hanlon, (which was not before the UNDT), stated that, ¡°This Tribunal interpreted the Inter-Organisation Agreement Concerning Transfer, Secondment or Loan of Staff Among the Organisations Applying the United Nations Common System of Salaries and Allowances to require that service in the releasing Organisation will be counted as service in the receiving Organisation. The Inter-Organisation Agreement interpreted that O¡¯Hanlon was remarkably similar to Article 5. 1 of the IAMA, which pertains to service credits for staff who transfer under the IAMA. Under the rationale...