2020-UNAT-997

2020-UNAT-997, Clemente

UNAT Held or UNDT Pronouncements

UNAT considered an application by UNJSPB for interpretation of judgment No. 2019-UNAT-912 related to the calculation and payment of interest. UNAT held that there was nothing unclear or ambiguous about the terms of the order and that the application for interpretation was inadmissible on those grounds alone. UNAT opined that, in actuality, the UNJSPB sought to appeal the judgment on the grounds that UNAT erred in making an award of interest, which UNJSPB believed was inconsistent with its Regulations. Noting that judgments of UNAT are final and without appeal, UNAT held that this attempt to appeal was impermissible. To hold that UNAT had no statutory jurisdiction to order the payment of interest would mean that UNAT would be unable to remedy wrongful conduct by placing an aggrieved applicant in the same position she or he would have been in but for the unlawful administrative decision. UNAT dismissed the application for interpretation of judgment as inadmissible.

Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed

In judgment No. 2019-UNAT-912, UNAT rescinded the decision of UNJSPF to deny the Appellant widow’s benefits and ordered UNJSPF to make payment to her within 14 days of the date of the issuance of the judgment with interest, and an additional five per cent interest if the payment was not executed in a timely manner.

Legal Principle(s)

An application for interpretation will only be admitted if the meaning or scope of a judgment is unclear or ambiguous. Judgments of UNAT are final and without appeal.

Outcome

Revision, correction, interpretation or execution

OAJ prepared this case law summary for informational purposes only. It is no official record and should not be relied upon as an authoritative interpretation of the Tribunals' rulings. For the authoritative texts, please refer to the judgment or order rendered by the respective Tribunal. The Tribunals are the only bodies competent to interpret their respective judgments, as provided under Article 12(3) of the UNDT Statute and Article 11(3) of the UNAT Statute. Any inaccuracies in the publication are the sole responsibility of OAJ, which should be contacted directly for any correction requests. To provide comments, don't hesitate to get in touch with OAJ at oaj@un.org.

The judgment summaries were generally prepared in English. They were translated into French and are being reviewed for accuracy of the translation.

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Clemente

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