Competence of decision-maker: Competence of the decision-maker is a cornerstone of the legality of an administrative decision. When the exercise by the Administration of its discretionary power is under judicial review, any lack of authority leads inevitably to the rescission of the contested decision.As this is an essential element for the legality of the contested decision, the authority of the decision-maker has to be assessed by the Tribunal on its own motion, regardless of the parties’ views at any stage of the administrative and judicial proceedings.Delegation of authority: Exclusions...
Permanent appointment
Competence of decision-maker: Competence of the decision-maker is a cornerstone of the legality of an administrative decision. When the exercise by the Administration of its discretionary power is under judicial review, any lack of authority leads inevitably to the rescission of the contested decision.As this is an essential element for the legality of the contested decision, the authority of the decision-maker has to be assessed by the Tribunal on its own motion, regardless of the parties’ views at any stage of the administrative and judicial proceedings.Delegation of authority: Exclusions...
Competence of decision-maker: Competence of the decision-maker is a cornerstone of the legality of an administrative decision. When the exercise by the Administration of its discretionary power is under judicial review, any lack of authority leads inevitably to the rescission of the contested decision.As this is an essential element for the legality of the contested decision, the authority of the decision-maker has to be assessed by the Tribunal on its own motion, regardless of the parties’ views at any stage of the administrative and judicial proceedings.Delegation of authority: Exclusions...
The UNDT found that the Applicant’s service should be deemed uninterrupted and continuous on a 100 series fixed-term contract. The UNDT found that the Applicant did not suffer any loss with respect to the delay of her family leave, but that she should be awarded USD1,200 as compensation for not receiving her home leave entitlement in December 2009. The UNDT rejected the Applicant’s claims of emotional distress as unproven. The UNDT also found that the Applicant satisfied the eligibility criteria for consideration for conversion to a permanent appointment and should have been considered for it...
Legal representation: An applicant may be represented by counsel before the Tribunal provided the requirements of art. 8.2(c) and art. 12 of the Rules of Procedure are met; in particular, the applicant must formally authorize counsel to represent him/her and adequate information must be provided to the Tribunal on the good standing of counsel. Preparatory decisions: According to well-settled case law of the Dispute Tribunal, preparatory decisions are not subject to appeal. They may only be challenged in the context of an appeal against the final decision.
Starting date of the 90-day time limit to file an application: The UNDT Statute, which prevails in case of contradiction with the Staff Rules as it is superior in the hierarchy of norms, prescribes that an application before the Tribunal must be filed within 90 days following receipt of the Administration’s response to the request for management evaluation or, if the Administration has not replied to such request, following the expiry of the relevant response period for the management evaluation. If the Administration replies after the response period for the management evaluation but before...
She alleged that the Administration advised her wrongly to resign from her 100-series fixed-term appointment (FTA) with UNDP, Kosovo, in 2007, when she was offered a FTA with UNV, Bonn, and argued that her resignation cannot be taken into account when assessing her eligibility for consideration for conversion, namely the requirement of 5-year continuous service. Following requests for additional information, the Tribunal found that the Administration put the Applicant into an illegal situation when she was first offered a 300-series appointment of limited duration with UNV, Bonn, while she...
One of the eligibility requirements was five years of continuous service with the Secretariat, excluding any service with separately administered funds or programmes. The Respondent asserted that for part of the relevant period the Applicant was employed pursuant to a Memorandum of Understanding between the United Nations Secretariat and the United Nations Development Programme, a separately administered programme. The UNDT found that the Applicant was converted by the United Nations to a permanent appointment in November 2010, which meant that the Organization had accepted that he had at...
The UNDT found that the decision to take into account the Applicant’s recent disciplinary record was not a new disciplinary sanction but an exercise of discretion with regard to a new and separate discretionary administrative process. The contested decision did not amount to unequal or unfair treatment of the Applicant as compared to staff members with existing permanent appointments. The UNDT found that the Administration considered the Applicant eligible for consideration for conversion, but determined that he was not suitable for conversion in view of the recent disciplinary sanction...
The Tribunal found that the decision not to grant the Applicant a permanent appointment was a reasonable exercise of discretion and the Administration’s reasons for the decision were acceptable.