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The Tribunal ordered rescission of the administrative decision to separate the Applicant from service. The Tribunal awarded the Applicant compensation for the substantive and procedural irregularities occasioned him by the failure of the Administration to follow its own guidelines, rules and procedures. Ultra vires - It was not within the competence of the Mission Leadership Team of UNMISS to leave its role of implementing the new mission’s mandate in order to dabble into matters of human resource management and the transitioning and de-transitioning of staff from the old mission to the new...

The UNDT found that the two posts in question were available only temporarily and therefore the Administration’s decision to advertise them as temporary vacancies was lawful. With respect to the first vacancy, the UNDT found that, as the successful candidate declined the offer, it was appropriate for the Administration to fill the temporarily vacant post through a lateral transfer. The UNDT further found that this decision was made by a person with proper delegation of authority. With respect to the second vacancy, the UNDT found that the selection exercise was also lawful. The application was...

Pleadings - A defence to a claim must say which of the allegations in the particulars of claim are admitted, which are denied and which allegations the defendant is unable to admit or deny, but requires the claimant to prove. Every allegation made in a claim should be dealt with in the defence. Where an allegation is denied, this normally implies that the defendant intends to put up a positive case to the contrary. Where the defendant denies an allegation, he must state his reasons for doing so; and if he intends to put forward a different version of events from that given by the claimant, he...

Due Process: UNAT concluded in Molari that “disciplinary cases are not criminal.” So therefore the right and rules pertaining to self-incrimination are purely associated with criminal procedure and therefore does not apply in this instance which is a disciplinary case. The Tribunal finds that she was provided systematically with the evidence, including the payslips in the course of the interview, in addition to an opportunity to review the record of interview. Ultra vires: In this case the person who took the decision as recorded in the letter of dismissal was the Under Secretary-General for...

The Tribunal found that within UNFPA, the authority to place a staff member on SLWFP rests with the UNFPA Executive Director, and that his authority was not duly delegated to another UNFPA Official. In view of that, the Tribunal concluded that the decision-maker did not have the competence to take the contested decision, ordered its rescission and awarded USD1,000 to the Applicant as moral damages for the breach of her rights due to that fundamental procedural flaw. The compensation was restricted to the fact that the Applicant had stated on several occasions that while she did contest the...

The Tribunal granted the application, and the contested decision was rescinded and SLWP request remanded for the ASG/OHRM’s consideration within 30 days.

The Tribunal found that filling a vacancy by laterally transferring a staff member holding the same grade and within the department of the vacant post, without undergoing a full-fledged selection procedure under the staff selection system, does not per se violate the applicable legal framework. Lateral transfer under sec. 2.5 of ST/AI/2010/3: Sec. 2.5 of ST/AI/2010/3 explicitly provides for the possibility of transferring staff within their departments or offices to job openings at the same level without following the procedures laid down in the staff selection system. This provision does not...

The Applicant’s claim of breach of duty of care is not receivable since he did not submit a separate claim for breach of duty of care to the Secretary-General for consideration and decision. While the review of the breach of duty of care claim is requested in the Applicant’s request for management evaluation, this does not cure the procedural defect which is the Applicant’s failure to request the Secretary-General’s consideration and decision. The decision to reject the Applicant’s claim under Appendix D Regarding the claim that the Secretary of ABCC did not have the valid delegated authority...

The Tribunal found the application receivable because the Applicant was not relitigating the same claim that was dismissed by Judgment No. UNDT/2019/122. The Tribunal concluded that Judgment No. UNDT/2019/122 related solely to the Applicant’s challenge against MONUSCO’s decision to abolish his post by way of a “dry cut” and not to extend his fixed-term appointment (FTA) and that this judgment made no pronouncements, whether procedural or substantive on the Applicant’s claim for a termination indemnity. In the absence of an explicit decision/evidence corroborating the Applicant’s assertion that...

Termination indemnity serves to provide sufficient means of survival for the staff member to identify a regular placement in the labour market, and thus is computed dependent on the length of service. It serves to compensate for the premature loss of employment and also discourages inconsiderate use of termination by the Respondent. Termination indemnity operates on the premise that the protected interest is in preserving the contract and not in generating more profit for the employee. The applicable legal framework for abolishment of post does not confer upon a staff member a right to have...