2014-UNAT-478, Bofill
UNAT considered the Appellant’s submission that she let the deadline elapse primarily because she was confused by the first sentence of the message she received from the Office of the Deputy High Commissioner. UNAT noted that this circumstance was previously considered by UNDT. UNAT was satisfied that the UNDT’s pronouncement was in accordance with the established case law. UNAT rejected the appeal.
The Applicant contested a decision not to promote her and the lack of reply to her management evaluation request. UNDT rejected her application as time-barred and did not find any evidence of exceptional circumstances to warrant a waiver or extension of the applicable time limits in her case.
UNAT strictly enforces various time limits. Only circumstances beyond an applicant’s control that prevented the applicant from exercising the right of appeal in a timely manner may be considered “exceptional circumstances,” justifying a waiver of the statutory time limit.