UNDT/2013/023 | SYSTEM OF ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE

UNDT/2013/023, Igbinedion

UNAT Held or UNDT Pronouncements

In this judgment, on one hand, the Tribunal ruled in favour of the Organization and on the other, in favour of the Applicant. For the Organization - the Tribunal found that non-renewal of the Applicant’s appointment was properly based on efforts by the Organization to streamline its practices in line with the funding situation it faced. For the Applicant - the Tribunal held that the Respondent’s repeated renewal of the Applicant’s appointment and penultimate renewal without a break-in-service with the same conditions of service gave the Applicant a legitimate expectation of renewal.

Decision Contested or Judgment Appealed

The Applicant contested UN Habitat’s decision not to renew his Fixed-Term Appointment, which had expired on 18 April 2011.

Legal Principle(s)

Pursuant to staff regulation 4.5, a fixed-term appointment does not carry an expectancy of renewal. However, according to the Tribunal’s jurisprudence, discretionary decisions regarding renewal of appointments are subject to evaluation for reasonableness, lack of arbitrariness or improper purpose.

Outcome

Judgment entered for Applicant in full or in part

Outcome Extra Text

The Tribunal awarded the Applicant compensation in the amount of two (2) months’ net-base salary.

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.

Full Judgment

Applicants/ Appellants

Igbinedion

Entity

UN-Habitat

Case Number(s)

UNDT/NBI/2011/023

Tribunal

UNDT

Registry Location :

Nairobi