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UNAT considered two appeals (consolidated) by Mr ElShanti of judgment No. UNRWA/DT/2019/051 and judgment No. UNRWA/DT/2019/065 respectively. On the consolidation of the cases, UNAT held that UNRWA DT had broad discretion in managing its cases and that it would only intervene in clear cases of denial of due process of law affecting a party’s right to produce evidence. Accordingly, UNAT rejected Mr ElShanti’s arguments against consolidation. UNAT held that there was no merit to Mr ElShanti’s claims that the characterization of the impugned administrative decision was incorrect, noting that UNRWA...

UNAT denied the request for an oral hearing, finding it would not assist in the expeditious and fair disposal of the case. UNAT held, recalling the Spinardi jurisprudence (judgment No. 2019-UNAT-957), that the decision on the Appellant’s complaints was not made utilizing a neutral first instance process as required jurisdictionally by Article 2. 10 of the UNAT Statute. UNAT noted that the appealed decision was made by the ICAO Secretary-General whose own earlier decision(s) the Appellant had challenged. UNAT allowed the appeal and set aside the ICAO Secretary-General’s and/or the AJAB’s...

UNAT held that the report of the JAB was not a decision resulting from a neutral first instance process and therefore could not be appealed to UNAT. UNAT held that such a case must be remanded for proper consideration by a neutral process that produces a record of the proceedings and a written decision. UNAT noted that the case could not be remanded to the JAB, whose functions were removed by Agreement between the UN and the WMO, signed on 20 January 2020 and effective the same date. UNAT remanded the case to UNDT for adjudication as a result of said Agreement on the extension of the...

UNAT made no finding regarding whether the WMO JAB erred on its finding of receivability, given its decision to remand the matter to UNDT. UNAT held that the report of WMO JAB was not a decision resulting from a neutral first instance process and therefore could not be appealed to UNAT. UNAT held that such a case had to be remanded for proper consideration by a neutral process that produces a record of the proceedings and a written decision. UNAT noted that the case could not be remanded to WMO JAB, whose functions were removed by Agreement between the UN and WMO dated 20 January 2020. UNAT...

UNAT held that AJAB’s interim report did not constitute a neutral first instance process which included a written record and a written decision providing reasons, fact and law and as such, did not conform to the requirements of Article 2(10) of the UNAT Statute or the Agreement between the UN and ICAO. UNAT held that at ICAO there was no neutral first instance process including a decision. UNAT held that the Secretary-General of ICAO, who issued the contested decision, was not neutral, but a party to proceedings. UNAT held that under such circumstances it was not satisfied that the essential...

UNAT held that the Appellant had failed to follow the procedural requirements for an appeal. UNAT noted that the Appellant contested a decision of the Pension Board, which had not been subject to review or appeal, neither by the Staff Pension Committee nor by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Pension Board. UNAT held that it was not allowed to intervene in matters that had not previously been subject to internal reassessment by the Pension Fund. UNAT dismissed the appeal as not receivable.

UNAT remanded the case to UNDT. UNAT held that the JAB process did not constitute a neutral first instance process that includes a decision, and therefore was not appealable to UNAT. UNAT held that the Secretary-General of WMO, who issued the contested decision, could not be regarded as a neutral body as he is a party. UNAT remanded the case to UNDT, which constituted the neutral first instance process for WMO.

UNAT held that UNJSPF’s contention that Ms. Larriera had known since 2003 that she was not recognized as a widow by UNJSPF, interpreted as having the meaning that she should have timely filed her request for review and subsequently her appeal to UNAT at that time, was without merit. In the absence of an explicit decision by the Administration denying her the entitlement, UNAT held that Ms Larriera could not and ought not to be expected to presume that such a decision was taken. UNAT held that Ms. Larriera’s request for review was receivable ratione materiae and that Ms. Larriera’s appeal was...

UNAT held that the ISA JAB decision was correct in its finding that the appeal was receivable and not time-barred. However, UNAT held that the Special Agreement and the resulting Staff Rules did not comply with the UNAT Statute, which required a neutral first instance process, and that, accordingly, UNAT was unable to exercise its jurisdiction as a second level tribunal. UNAT remanded the matter to the JAB to ensure compliance with the jurisdictional requirements of the Special Agreement and Article 2(10) of the UNAT Statute, specifying that the Appellant’s appeal should be reconsidered and...

This case was presided by Judge Halfeld, and Judge Murphy drafted the majority opinion. The Majority (Halfeld, Murphy, Raikos and Knierim) dismissed the appeal and held that the appeal was not receivable. Without deciding on the issue whether the UNDT has an inherent right to hold a non-party in contempt, the Majority found that the appeal did not meet the requirements of the UNAT Statute. The Majority explained that it had jurisdiction ratione materiae to hear and pass judgment on an appeal pursuant to Article 2(1) of the Statute in which it is asserted that the UNDT has: (a) exceeded its...