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The UNAT held that Mr. Kankwenda, a late participant in the UNJSPF, married another individual, Ms. M.T., in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 1971.  This fact, which Ms. Isasi herself did not contest, was supported by a marriage certificate and was consistent with the information regarding the dates of birth of Mr. Kankwenda’s children and the identities of their mothers.  The UNAT highlighted that Ms. Isasi admitted that the two marriage certificates she submitted after Mr. Kankwenda’s death, purportedly showing their marriage on 17 January 1971, were falsified, undermining her...

The UNAT denied Ms. Banyanga’s appeal and affirmed the decision of the Standing Committee.  The UNAT found that Ms. Banyanga had not adequately explained the inconsistencies between her own personal information and the information submitted by Mr. Mbirange regarding his reported spouse (including that the name “Banyanga” did not appear in the documentation that Mr. Mbirange provided about his spouse).

The UNAT also rejected Ms. Banyanga’s reliance on the marriage certificate that she submitted, which showed a purported date of marriage in 1997.  The UNAT observed that Mr. Mbirange entered...

UNAT considered the appeal and affirmed UNJSPF’s decision. UNAT found that UNJSPF submitted credible evidence that demonstrated that the Cameroon divorce decree was invalid and that the deceased at no time commenced proceedings to dissolve his marriage to his first wife apart from the USA divorce proceedings, which were terminated by his death. In drawing this conclusion, UNAT found it unnecessary to address the additional reliefs sought by the Appellant. UNAT accordingly affirmed UNJSPF’s decision to award the widow’s benefit to the former staff member’s first wife and denied all reliefs...

UNAT noted that: the Sidells were negligent in not reporting their marriage before their separation from service; Mr Sidell notified UNJSPF in October 2003 of his marriage to Mrs Sidell and UNJSPF requested him to provide his original marriage certificate, which he did; and UNJSPF did not follow up with Mr Sidell about the matter. UNAT held that UNJSPF, by remaining silent, created a reasonable expectation on the part of the Sidells that Mr Sidell’s pension record was corrected and that his marriage to Mr Sidell was recognised by UNJSPF. UNAT held that, in the circumstances, it was...

UNAT held that UNJSPF’s contention that Ms. Larriera had known since 2003 that she was not recognized as a widow by UNJSPF, interpreted as having the meaning that she should have timely filed her request for review and subsequently her appeal to UNAT at that time, was without merit. In the absence of an explicit decision by the Administration denying her the entitlement, UNAT held that Ms Larriera could not and ought not to be expected to presume that such a decision was taken. UNAT held that Ms. Larriera’s request for review was receivable ratione materiae and that Ms. Larriera’s appeal was...