UNDT/2019/127, Abdelkader
The Applicant was initially informed of the contested decision by memorandum dated 3 June 2013 and admitted in her application that she did not request management evaluation of such decision. The 21 November 2016 response from the Chief, RSCE to the Applicant’s request to be paid a relocation grant in relation to her transfer in 2013 is not a new administrative decision that “resets the clock” for the purpose of requesting management evaluation. After having carefully reviewed the 21 November 2016 memorandum, the Tribunal concluded that it did not constitute a new decision since it did not add any new argument, nor did it include or consider any new facts. It is a mere reiteration of the initial decision dated 3 June 2013. A reiteration of an original administrative decision, if repeatedly questioned by a staff member, does not reset the clock with respect to statutory timelines. As a consequence, the Tribunal dismissed the application for two reasons: first, the Applicant did not request management evaluation within 60 days of the 3 June 2013 decision and, second, she filed her application more than three years after she was notified of the contested decision, in breach of art. 8.4 of the Tribunal’s Statute.
The Applicant contested the decision not to pay her a relocation grant following her reassignment from Bunia to Entebbe in June 2013.
Management evaluation is a compulsory requirement to have access to the internal justice system. The only exceptions held in the internal legal framework are disciplinary cases and decisions taken pursuant to the advice of a technical body (see Servas 2013-UNAT-349). There must be a timely request for management evaluation prior to submitting an application to the Tribunal (see Dzuverovic 2013-UNAT-338 and Kouadio 2015-UNAT-558). The time limit of 60 days for requesting management evaluation begins to run from the date of notification of the decision being challenged. The Tribunal does not have power to waive the deadlines for the filing of requests for management evaluation or to make any exception to it (see Costa 2010-UNAT-036 and Christensen 2013-UNAT-335).