51ÁÔÆæ

UNAT held that the decision of the UNJSPB not to submit the staff member¡¯s appeal to the Standing Committee contravened his rights under the UNJSPF Regulations by depriving him of access to the appeals process and was a serious violation of his due process rights. Noting that UNAT¡¯s jurisdiction was limited to hearing appeals of decisions of the Standing Committee and that the staff member¡¯s case had not been reviewed by the Standing Committee, UNAT held that it had no jurisdiction to hear the appeal and remanded it to the Standing Committee.

UNAT held that the staff member¡¯s retirement benefit from the UNJSPF including the monthly periodic pension benefit was not subject to taxation and/or payment of statutory deductions and that therefore, any challenge with respect to the application and meaning of the words ¡°gross¡± and ¡°net¡± was merely semantic. UNAT held that the ASHI premium was a voluntary payment that was deducted by the UNJSPF at the behest of a beneficiary and therefore could not be treated as or deemed to be a statutory deduction. UNAT dismissed the appeal.

UNAT held that the Standing Committee correctly determined that the applicable rules provide that the pension participant is required to inform UNJPSF in writing of the benefit election made and of any commutation elected and that there was no provision for third party advisement. UNAT held that the Standing Committee¡¯s reliance on Article 30(b) of the UNJSPF Regulations as a rationale for its finding that a deferred retirement benefit became payable to Ms. Assebe upon her separation from service was flawed on the basis that she did not elect for a deferred retirement benefit. UNAT held that...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT held that UNDT erred in concluding that the staff member¡¯s eligibility for ASHI should be determined based on the date of her recruitment to the ICTY in October 2006 instead of her appointment to UNAKRT in October 2009. UNAT noted that, under Staff Rule 4. 17, the date of recruitment that is relevant for determining the terms of appointment of a former staff member who receives a new appointment after separating from the Organisation is the date of the new appointment. In the staff member¡¯s case, her new appointment with UNAKRT was a re...

UNAT held that there was nothing arbitrary about the impugned decision of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), UNJSPF, as it was based on reports by the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund between July 2011 and February 2013. UNAT held that good reason had been established for the CEO to decide on 31 July 2011 as the proper date for the suspension of the two-track system in Argentina, notwithstanding that there were previous statements regarding the reliability of the consumer price index (CPI) data in Argentina. UNAT held that it was satisfied that such a decision was a proper...

UNAT held that there was no reason to depart from its prior analysis that the UNJSPF was not part of the Secretariat and neither the Secretary-General nor the executive head of any other member organisation, has authority over the management of UNJSPF or the independence of the Chief Executive Officer of UNJSPF in the administration of its staff. UNAT held that the Secretary-General had no power to interfere or intervene in the election of members to the UNJSPF¡¯s staff pension committees; those elections were governed exclusively by UNJSPF Regulations. UNAT held that there was no error in UNDT...

UNAT held that the appeal concerned the interpretation of Article 35 of the UNJSPF Regulations. UNAT found that the Appellant wanted the Standing Committee to accept the period of contributory service with the Fund in order to calculate his own benefit but to take into account a different period vis-¨¤-vis his former spouse. UNAT held that Articles 35bis and 22 of the UNJSPF Regulations were clear and that it could not distinguish where the text was clear. UNAT held that the same date would apply to the calculation of the Appellant¡¯s benefits and the determination of whether his former spouse...

UNAT agreed that Article 24(a) UNJSPF Regulations does not provide a right to restore prior contributory service to participants who, on or after 1 April 2007, had elected to receive a deferred retirement benefit. UNAT held that the Appellant fell into this category. The appeal was dismissed, and the decision of the Standing Committee was affirmed.

UNAT considered that at the time of the elections, there was no law that prevented the staff members from being elected to the UNSPC once they met the prerequisites for election, which they did. UNAT held that both staff members were duly elected members of the UNSPC and that as a direct consequence of their election, they had the same rights and privileges as other elected members, and which could not be restricted or denied. UNAT granted the appeals and ordered that the staff members be given access to all relevant Pension Board documents and be allowed to participate and function as elected...

UNAT dismissed the appeal as not receivable, as the Appellant had failed to request a review of the UNJSPF decision before appealing to UNAT. UNAT remanded the matter for a hearing before the Standing Committee, treating the appeal as if correctly and timely filed as a request for decision review.