A summary judgment was rendered because, as per art. 9 of the RoP, there was no dispute as to the material facts and judgment was restricted to matters of law. As one of the Applicants did not file an application in person (art. 8.1 (b), 3.1 and 2.1 of UNDT Statute) neither designated a counsel to act on his behalf (art. 12 of UNDT RoP), his application was deemed as not receivable. Furthermore, considering that an apology is beyond the remedies which may be ordered by the Tribunal in accordance with art. 10.5 of UNDT Statute, the application was declared as out of the Tribunal’s mandate.
UNODC
The application was withdrawn by the Applicant in view of the informal resolution of the dispute.
The Tribunal found that there was no evidence that the transfer decision was arbitrary or based on improper motives. Administrative review/management evaluation: Requests for administrative review or management evaluation are mandatory first steps in the appeal process. In the case at hand, the only decision that was the subject of a request for management evaluation, and that is therefore properly before the Tribunal, is the decision to transfer the Applicant laterally from Cairo to Abu Dhabi. The Applicant’s arguments regarding the unlawfulness of the decision to abolish his post and of...
Pursuant to articles 2.1 and 3.1 of the Statute of the UNDT, the status of staff member is a necessary condition for access to the Tribunal. This is in line with General Assembly resolution 63/253 which intentionally limited the Tribunal’s jurisdiction. In this case, the application is not receivable ratione personae since the applicant never became a staff member. The applicant’s references to provisions of the Charter of the United Nations are without merit in this respect.
The statement of the Executive Director is not an administrative decision that can be contested before UNDT in accordance with article 2 of its Statute. It is not an administrative decision within the meaning of the ruling in Andronov by the former UNAT. Indeed, the applicant did not contest the non-renewal of his appointment but a statement by the Executive Director. This statement is a simple opinion, not an administrative decision that could have affected the applicant’s terms of appointment. By the time the statement was published, the applicant was already aware of the non-renewal of his...
The Tribunal observes that the Applicant’s claims concerning the decision to take into consideration events post-dating 31 March 2010 and the decision not to allow him to rebut his performance appraisal became moot and it considers that he failed to show that he was still suffering any injury because of these reversed decisions. It further notes that the rebuttal process is still pending and it therefore rejects as premature the Applicant’s claims concerning the decision to apply ST/AI/2002/3 and the decision to carry out a single appraisal. It also rejects his claims of bad faith, abuse of...
Receivability/administrative decision: Preliminary decisions such as the choice of an appropriate basis for a staff member’s performance appraisal do not have direct legal effects on his/her rights. They can only be reviewed within the context of the assessment of the final decision, that is, the outcome of the staff member’s performance appraisal.Delegation of authority: A delegation of authority should not be guessed at or presumed. It must precede the taking of a decision and is not synonymous with retrospective rubberstamping.Classification of posts/generic job profiles: Section 2.2 of ST...
The Tribunal finds that none of the applicable provisions prevented the renewal of fixed-term appointments for a period of less than a year. It further finds that the alignment policy was properly issued and rejects the Applicant’s allegations of improper motives and discrimination. Terminology: renewal/extension: The wording of staff rule 4.12 and 4.13 shows an undifferentiated use of the terms “renewal†and “extensionâ€. Delegation of authority: A delegation of power should not be guessed at or presumed. Organizational measure: A policy which consists, for a UN Secretariat office away from...
The Tribunal finds that the restructuring constituted a valid exercise of the Respondent’s discretionary authority, that the Applicant’s post was not abolished as he was in fact reassigned against the same budgeted post, and that his reassignment was lawful. Definition of a “postâ€: A “post†may be defined as the financial authorization given for a job to be performed, irrespective of the fact that it may be funded through budgetary or extra budgetary sources. Discretion of the Secretary-General in the organization of work: The Secretary-General enjoys broad discretion in the organization of...
Management evaluation: Claims against decisions that have not been the subject of a request for management evaluation are not receivable before the Tribunal. An applicant may not seek any rulings or relief in relation to these decisions. The events surrounding them may be part of the factual matrix of the application but they are peripheral at best. Project document: There is no mandatory requirement in the rules or any Administrative Instructions for a project document to be finalised prior to the responsible staff member taking up the project post. Authority for lateral transfers under ST/AI...