51ÁÔÆæ

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 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...

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...

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.

Receivability ratione materiae: The Tribunal is only competent to consider applications against an administrative decision for which an applicant has timely requested management evaluation, when required. Failure to file a timely request for management evaluation makes the application irreceivable, ratione materiae.

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Strict enforcement of time limits: time limits for formal contestation of a decision are to be enforced strictly. Exceptional cases (in relation to the waiver of time limits): according to art. 8.3 of the Tribunal¡¯s Statute, the Tribunal may suspend or waive the deadlines for a limited period ¡°only in exceptional cases¡±. The Appeals Tribunal has repeatedly found that only circumstances beyond the applicant¡¯s control that prevented him or her from exercising the right of appeal in a timely manner may be considered exceptional circumstances justifying a waiver of the statutory time limits.

Starting date for time limits: Time limits must be counted from the moment all facts necessary to the commencement of the case were known, or at least should have reasonably been known .Publication of vacancies: The Administration is uncontestably required to announce existing and foreseeable vacancies to be filled. If more than one vacancy is to be advertised under the same JO, the JO in question needs to clearly indicate so. Non-retroactive application of the Statute¡¯s amendment: An amendment of the applicable rules cannot apply to an application filed prior to the entry into force of said...

Non-renewal: A non-renewal decision can be based on a mere reduction of work, based on a workload prognosis¡ªmade at the time of the decision. This can lead to a situation where a regular budget post remains vacant without actually being abolished. There is no legal obligation for the Administration to renew a staff member¡¯s FTA based solely on the fact that the respective post is funded. On the contrary, it may be in the best interest of the Organization to save money instead of using available resources at all cost. In assessing future workload, the Administration necessarily has to make some...

Administrative decision: Advice from OAIS about where to submit a complaint that does not fall within the scope of its authority does not produce any direct legal consequences to the legal order and, therefore, does not constitute an administrative decision.In the absence of a specific time limit in the applicable rules and regulations for finalizing PAD rebuttals, a former staff member has no right to compel the Administration to investigate misconduct for a delay in the completion of a PAD rebuttal process; therefore, the absence of a response to such request does not constitute an implied...

Non-renewal: A non-renewal decision can be taken on the basis of a projected reduction of workload; in assessing future workload, the Administration necessarily has to make some prognosis, on the basis of the elements available at the time of the contested decision. Factual developments relating to the future workload after the date of the decision have to remain out of consideration, and do not have an impact on the legality of the decision under review. Extraneous factors: The burden of proof with respect to extraneous considerations falls on the Applicant. Ultra vires: A non-renewal...

Receivability ratione personae: The Tribunal is not competent to hear applications filed by a (former) individual contractor, who was not a staff member, a former staff member or a person making claims in the name of an incapacitated or deceased staff member; such an application is not receivable, ratione personae.Receivability ratione materiae: The Tribunal is only competent to consider applications against an administrative decision for which an applicant has timely requested management evaluation. Failure to file a timely request for management evaluation, when required, makes the...

Binding force of UNAT judgments: Judgments of the Appeals Tribunal are binding upon the parties. Their binding effect is not restricted to the orders provided under the ¡°Judgment¡± section, but also extends to the other operative paragraphs, which set out the major considerations for the determinations made. Articulation of the interest of the Organization and the criteria for conversion: The interest of the Organization is a legitimate consideration to be taken into account when assessing the suitability of a staff member; however, as articulated in the relevant rules, it is ancillary to the...

Recalling the above-mentioned Appeals Tribunal¡¯s ruling and the requirements set therein for the reconsideration ordered by it, the Tribunal found that the impugned decisions were unlawful on several accounts, but primarily in that (a) the Applicants were not considered individually in light of their proficiencies, qualifications, competencies, conduct and transferrable skills, and (b) the decisions were based on the limited mandate of ICTY alone, to the exclusion of all other relevant factors. Accordingly, the Tribunal rescinded the impugned decisions, ordered the matter to be remanded once...

Binding force of UNAT judgments: Judgments of the Appeals Tribunal are binding upon the parties. Their binding effect is not restricted to the orders provided under the ¡°Judgment¡± section, but also extends to the other operative paragraphs, which set out the major considerations for the determinations made. Articulation of the interest of the Organization and the criteria for conversion: The interest of the Organization is a legitimate consideration to be taken into account when assessing the suitability of a staff member; however, as articulated in the relevant rules, it is ancillary to the...

The Tribunal found that by filing her request for management evaluation only on 21 April 2015, the Applicant failed to respect the 60 day time limit under staff rule 11.2(c), which started to run as of 5 January 2015, the day of her signature of the letter of appointment. Subsequent responses from OHRM in response to queries from the Applicant were merely confirmative decisions of the original decision of 5 January 2015. The Tribunal found the application irreceivable, ratione materiae.

The Tribunal found the application to be irreceivable, ratione materiae, since the Applicant failed to file a timely request for management evaluation.

The UNDT found, on the one hand, that UNAMA decision to close the case given the conclusions of the investigation constituted a valid exercise of discretion by the Administration, and that the Organization did not breach the Applicant¡¯s rights by not sharing the full investigation report with her. On the other hand, the Tribunal found that UNAMA failed to take diligent action with respect to the Applicant¡¯s complaint and that it incurred inordinate delays both in reviewing and assessing the Applicant¡¯s complaint and in setting up a fact-finding panel and conducting the investigation into her...

The decision was based on a restructuring exercise of the OOSA Office, Beijing, by which the Applicant¡¯s post, which was funded through contributions from the Chinese Government, was replaced by a level 4 Service Contract (SC-4 post). The Applicant claimed that this was irrelevant since her non-renewal was relating to concerns about her performance. The Applicant, whose letter of appointment was with the United Nations Development Program (¡°UNDP¡±), had requested timely management evaluation with the Management Evaluation Unit at UN Headquarters. She had, however, filed a request for management...