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UNAT held that the Secretary-General was duty-bound to implement decisions by the ICSC as directed by the General Assembly and that for the most part, such decisions are of general application and therefore not reviewable. UNAT held, however, that where a decision of general application negatively affects the terms of appointment of a staff member, such decision shall be treated as an “administrative decision” within the scope of Article 2. 1 of the UNDT Statute. Based on the staff member’s Personnel Action Forms, before and after implementation of the ICSC’s renumbering exercise, UNAT held...

On the question of maintaining confidentiality, UNAT held that the Appellant had not provided persuasive reasons for maintaining the confidentiality of his case and did not grant his petition. UNAT held that a decision not to review the closure of an investigation, which had been impugned by a staff member as procedurally or substantively irregular, was a decision that affected a staff member’s legal rights and that it, therefore, constituted an administrative decision subject to judicial review. UNAT held that the specific provisions of ICAO’s personnel instruction should have led to a...

Noting that it was clear that the intention was to revisit the earlier decisions by conducting a review of affected staff, to decide the matter afresh, and to issue new notifications, UNAT held that the June decision went beyond mere reiteration and constituted a fresh administrative decision impliedly substituting the previous decision. UNAT held that UNDT erred in its findings that the Application was not receivable. UNAT upheld the appeal, vacated the UNDT judgment, and remanded the case to UNDT for consideration on the merits.

UNAT considered appeals by both the Secretary-General and Mr Auda. Noting that the Administration had not failed to respond, albeit with inordinate delay, and then had set up a second fact-finding panel, UNAT held that a decision may only be challenged in the context of an appeal after the conclusion of the entire process and that the step Mr Auda was challenging was preliminary in nature. UNAT held that the contested issue, namely the decision of the first fact-finding panel to delay, withhold and not submit its report and records, ceased to exist when Mr Auda was notified of the outcome of...

UNAT held that there was no merit to the Appellant’s claims that UNDT failed to exercise its jurisdiction or erred in law by using the summary judgment procedure to determine the application was not receivable ratione materiae. UNAT held that the application to UNDT did not challenge an administrative decision that was alleged to be in non-compliance with the terms of appointment or the contract of employment of the staff member, rather the Appellant challenged the MEU’s wording in a letter to him acknowledging the receipt of his grievance or complaint. UNAT held that UNDT did not err in law...

On an appeal by the Secretary-General, UNAT held that UNDT erred in concluding that the applications were receivable. UNAT noted that Article 2(1) of the UNDT Statute limits the UNDT’s jurisdiction to hearing appeals against administrative decisions. UNAT defined an administrative decision as a unilateral decision of an administrative nature taken by the administration involving the exercise of a power or the performance of a function in terms of a statutory instrument, which adversely affects the rights of a staff member and produces direct legal consequences. UNAT noted that, with the...

As a preliminary matter, UNAT declined to receive the Appellant’s additional evidence on the basis that the Appellant failed to show exceptional circumstances, explain why the additional evidence could not have been filed before UNDT, or demonstrate its relevance and materiality. On the merits, UNAT held that working overtime over the years does not amount to an administrative decision, noting that the Appellant failed to provide evidence of the Administration requesting him to work overtime or of any request by him for compensation and a denial thereof. UNAT held that knowledge of the...

On the question of the non-renewal of appointment, UNAT held that UNDT correctly concluded that (1) the Appellant’s application was non-receivable ratione materiae, as he had not submitted a request for management evaluation, and (2) that the Appellant’s request for assistance from the Ombudsman did not constitute a request for management evaluation (and that even it did, it would have been time-barred). On the “decision” of the Administration to place adverse material in the Appellant’s official status file and to block him from being rehired, UNAT held there was no final, appealable...

UNAT held that the appeal was entirely without merit. UNAT upheld the UNDT finding that the application was not receivable as the Appellant had waived the relevant right and therefore did not have standing. UNAT affirmed, albeit for different reasons, UNDT’s final legal conclusion that the Applicant’s application was not receivable ratione materiae. UNAT held that there was no reviewable administrative decision in the Appellant’s application. UNAT held that UNDT had no primary legal or factual basis from which it could conclude that the Applicant had properly sought judicial review of a...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT held that it was unable to detect any fault in the UNDT’s conclusion that the negative narrative comments and the performance appraisal itself constituted a reviewable administrative decision. UNAT held that the negative narrative comments detracted from the overall satisfactory performance appraisal of the Appellant and had present and direct legal consequences for the Appellant’s terms of appointment, thus the comments and the performance appraisal constituted a final administrative decision. UNAT held that the application was...