����AV

Regarding the allegations that UNDT erred in law, fact, and procedure and failed to exercise its jurisdiction in relation to her allegations of discrimination, UNAT held that the burden was on the Appellant to establish that the oral and documentary evidence, if admitted, would have led to different findings of fact, and changed the outcome of the case. UNAT held that UNDT had not erred in rejecting the Appellant’s allegations that she had been subjected to discrimination on the grounds of gender or based on her family responsibilities and her expressed desire to work part-time. Regarding the...

UNAT considered an appeal of judgment No. UNDT/2011/179. UNAT held that the Appellant had failed to demonstrate that UNDT erred in finding that there was no evidence of a conflict of interest or prejudice to his case. UNAT noted that UNDT has broad discretion to determine the admissibility of any evidence under Article 18. 1 of the UNDT RoP and that it had exercised its discretion in deciding not to admit the evidence because it lacked probative value. UNAT held that UNDT had correctly found there were no meaningful indicia of a conflict of interest involving the Chief of OSLA regarding the...

UNAT held that UNDT had not erred in concluding that the Administration’s decision, to take into consideration in the context of the Appellant’s 2009-2010 performance appraisal events post-dating 31 March 2010, was superseded by the Administration’s subsequent change of approach. UNAT held that UNDT had correctly determined that the Appellant’s claims in this regard had become moot. UNAT held that, in rendering the Appellant’s complaint about the rebuttal issue moot considering the subsequent reversal of the decision of 24 November 2010, UNDT had failed to give sufficient weight to a central...

UNAT held that it would not lightly interfere with the UNDT’s exercise of its jurisdictional powers, conferred on UNDT by its Statute, which enables cases to be judged fairly and expeditiously. UNAT held that the complaints made by the Secretary-General fell squarely within the jurisdiction and competence of UNDT, notwithstanding the alleged breach of procedural fairness. UNAT held that the appeal was not receivable. UNAT dismissed the appeal and affirmed the UNDT judgment.

UNAT rejected the request for an oral hearing considering it not necessary and that it would unduly delay the delivery of the judgment. UNAT held that appeals against decisions taken in the course of proceedings, including orders imposing interim measures, were non-receivable, even when UNDT committed an error of law or fact. UNAT dismissed the appeal and upheld the UNDT judgment.

UNAT considered the three appeals by the Secretary-General against the UNDT Orders. UNAT held that the appeals were receivable because: (1) UNDT exceeded its jurisdiction under Article 2. 2 of the UNDT Statute by ordering the suspension of the contested decision beyond the date of completion of management evaluation; and (2) UNDT exceeded its jurisdiction under Article 10. 2 of the UNDT Statute by ordering, during the proceedings, a suspension of the contested decision as an interim measure in a case of appointment. UNAT held that Order No. 129 suspended the contested decision beyond...

UNAT granted the Secretary-General’s appeal on the basis that UNDT manifestly exceeded its jurisdictional powers by converting an application for suspension of action into an application on merits and inviting the parties to make submissions on the merits. UNAT held that UNDT took an ultra petita decision by ordering measures for which no claim had been made.

To the extent that the UNDT’s Order acknowledged that the Appellant withdrew his application and granted the request for withdrawal, UNAT upheld the Order. In every other regard, UNAT upheld the arguments made by the Appellant as to the manner in which UNDT granted the withdrawal request. UNAT held that UNDT erred in law and went beyond its jurisdiction in effectively embarking on a consideration of the merits of the case and in speculating about the Appellant’s motivation in bringing his application. UNAT ordered that the recital of “Facts” in paragraphs 4 to 7 and “Considerations” in...

UNAT held that UNDT had correctly found that the alignment policy constituted an organisational measure aimed at simplifying administrative procedures in relation to staff appointments at UNODC. UNAT agreed with UNDT that, as a result of the Secretary-General’s broad discretion in relation to decisions on internal management, the issuance of the policy by a “Message of the Day” was subject to limited review by the Tribunal. UNAT affirmed UNDT’s finding that the Appellant had failed to demonstrate that the application of the alignment policy to his case was motivated by improper motives and...

UNAT considered an appeal against UNDT Orders No. 082 (NBI/2011) and No. 083 (NBI/2011) by the Secretary-General. UNAT held that the main motivation for ordering the suspension of action in Order No. 82 was to grant access to justice to the staff member and that the Order could be sustained because a certain degree of discretion had to be awarded to UNDT to consider and resolve urgent matters such as interim measures. On Order No. 83, which extended the suspension of action until 12 August 2011, in breach of the five working days restrictive period to render the decision, UNAT held that UNDT...