2013-UNAT-378, Ivanov
UNAT held that the Appellant had not established any error in fact or law emerging from the impugned judgment. UNAT noted that the Appellant did not challenge the competitive procedure’s final administrative act since he only began to contest the Administration’s actions when the selected candidate was laterally moved, and another rostered candidate was appointed as a replacement. UNAT held that the Appellant’s rights as a staff member were linked to the administrative decision that completed the selection procedure and that, as such, any breach of his rights could only be caused by that decision and not the latter one simply executed the previous selection. UNAT held that the Appellant’s standing to challenge the qualifications of the recommended candidates came into effect when both the recommended candidate was selected and the candidate who was appointed after the lateral transfer of the first was selected for inclusion in the roster. UNAT held that his failure to challenge that decision precluded him from subsequently impugning the designation of the rostered candidate. UNAT held that UNDT correctly determined that the claim was time-barred, the Appellant lacked standing, and that, as such, it was not receivable. UNAT dismissed the appeal and affirmed the UNDT judgment.
UNDT judgment: The Applicant contested his non-selection for a post. UNDT identified several administrative decisions. To the extent that Mr Ivanov could be construed as protesting either of the 15 December 2009 decisions, UNDT found that his request for management evaluation was late, being filed more than a month after his statutory deadline. With respect to the 15 January 2010 decision, UNDT held that Mr Ivanov’s request for management evaluation was made within the 60-day time limit and was not, therefore, time-barred, but that he lacked standing to contest the decision: as there was no actual direct link between the selected candidate and the Applicant’s candidacy for the post, it could not be said that any of his rights were breached by the new administrative decision. UNDT dismissed his application as not receivable.
If a staff member wishes to challenge his or her non-selection for a post, this should take the form of a challenge to the decision not to select him or her; a staff member cannot create a new opportunity of appeal by trying to challenge the subsequent appointment of one of the recommended candidates.