¹ú²úAV

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT held that UNDT committed an error of law in deciding that the decisions not to nominate Ms Sarrouh for the IAAP’s further consideration for the RC positions for which she applied in August and November 2013 were unlawful. UNAT held that UNDT erred by conducting a de novo assessment of Ms Sarrouh’s performance and exceeded its competence. UNAT held that UNDT erred in law and exceeded its competence by substituting its own decision for that of the Administration regarding the outcome of the selection process. UNAT held that UNDT erred in law by substituting its own views as to the pertinent criteria for Ms Sarrouh’s post. UNAT held that the Secretary-General was entitled to take into account a report of a very serious problem in the Country Office under Ms Sarrouh’s responsibility when considering her applications for important posts in other countries and that UNDT was not competent to hold that the Secretary-General should have given precedence to different criteria. UNAT held that, in light of Ms Sarrouh’s performance, it could not be said that the decision not to nominate her was unreasonable or unlawful. UNAT held that UNDT erred in concluding that Ms Sarrouh’s entire performance with UNDP was satisfactory. UNAT held that the evidence before UNDT established that the Secretary-General was justified to decide not to nominate her for any positions, an exercise of his broad discretion. UNAT allowed the appeal and vacated the UNDT judgment.