¹ú²úAV

Tribunal’s review of eligibility for benefits: The Secretary-General has no discretion to grant or deny a benefit provided for in the Staff Regulations and Rules and is bound, in this respect, by the applicable rules. Accordingly, when the matter before the Tribunal concerns the refusal to grant a benefit, the Tribunal may only examine whether the staff member was eligible for, or entitled to, such benefit, without taking into account the grounds for refusal provided by the Administration. The fact that other staff members in the same situation may have been granted the disputed benefit is irrelevant. Entitlement to repatriation grant: It is clear from annex IV to the Staff Regulations that an eligible staff member must relocate upon separation in order to be entitled to a repatriation grant. Entitlement to payment of travel expenses to place of home leave: In accordance with staff rules 7.1(b) and 5.2(c), the qualifying two years of continuous service for the payment of travel expenses to the place of home leave upon separation begin to accrue from the effective date the staff member became eligible for home leave.Outcome: Application rejected on the merits