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UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT held that UNDT did not err in law or in fact in determining that the contested decision was unlawful. UNAT held that there was no merit to the Secretary-General’s claim that the staff member could not challenge the decision not to reinstate him because he had entered a binding contract with the Administration when he signed the offer of appointment or the letter of appointment, both of which were silent about reinstatement. UNAT held that UNDT had correctly concluded that the reinstatement was not foreclosed by the absence of a reference...

UNAT was persuaded for reasons of equity and good faith by the Appellant’s arguments rather than those put forward by the Secretary-General, although it did not accept the entirety of the Appellant’s arguments on the discontinuation issue. UNAT held that in failing to give due consideration to the arguments raised by the Appellant regarding the years 1989 to 1997, UNDT erred in law in retroactively applying former Staff Rule 104. 3 set forth in ST/SGB/2003/1 to the entirety of his service. UNAT held that the Appellant was entitled to rely on the statutory provisions in force when he last...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. On the award of costs, UNAT held that the calling of a witness in good faith and with the reasonable aim to bolster the views of the Administration did not constitute an abuse of process warranting the award of legal costs and granted the appeal on that point. UNAT dismissed the Secretary-General’s appeal of the award of prospective compensation of the monetary equivalent of the Special Post Allowance for an uncertain duration. UNAT found no merit in the Secretary-General’s appeal against the award of compensation for loss of opportunity...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT held that UNDT erred in law and fact in ordering the refund of the recovery of the overpayments for two months. UNAT held that Ms Ten Have was aware of the overpayment in April 2013 and therefore, the general rule of Section 3. 1 of ST/AI//2009/1 was applicable and the recovery of the two months overpayments was not excessive since the limit of two years could not be applied due to the staff member’s awareness of the overpayments as of April 2013, regardless of her previous ignorance or bona fide. UNAT also held that as no request for...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT found merit in the Secretary-General’s submission that UNDT was not competent to determine or assume that the injury was service-related; to assume that there was a likelihood of the Advisory Board on Compensation Claims (ABCC) would have reached a different conclusion had it followed the correct procedure; that the ABCC made its recommendations based on uncertain facts and inference which were derived, improbably, from the absence of evidence; that after the second accident, the staff member was permanently disabled and unable to work...

UNAT considered an appeal by Mr Survo and an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT held that UNDT had not erred in the procedure, including in its findings regarding receivability. UNAT held that UNDT had not erred in law in relation to the matters raised by Mr Survo. UNAT held that UNDT had not erred on a question of fact such as to render the decision of UNDT manifestly unreasonable. On the Secretary-General’s appeal of the Special Post Allowance (SPA) issue, UNAT held that UNAT had no primary legal or factual basis from which it could conclude that Mr Survo had properly sought management...

UNAT held that the additional documents filed by the Appellant were inadmissible in that they were not relevant to the central issue in the present case. UNAT held that UNDT was correct in finding that the Appellant failed to identify a specific decision that had a direct and adverse impact on his contractual rights and thus did not identify an administrative decision capable of being reviewed. UNAT held that UNDT was correct in concluding that there was no evidence of the Appellant having requested management evaluation of any administrative decision, nor any evidence of having submitted...

UNAT held that the staff member’s retirement benefit from the UNJSPF including the monthly periodic pension benefit was not subject to taxation and/or payment of statutory deductions and that therefore, any challenge with respect to the application and meaning of the words “gross” and “net” was merely semantic. UNAT held that the ASHI premium was a voluntary payment that was deducted by the UNJSPF at the behest of a beneficiary and therefore could not be treated as or deemed to be a statutory deduction. UNAT dismissed the appeal.

UNAT held that the Standing Committee correctly determined that the applicable rules provide that the pension participant is required to inform UNJPSF in writing of the benefit election made and of any commutation elected and that there was no provision for third party advisement. UNAT held that the Standing Committee’s reliance on Article 30(b) of the UNJSPF Regulations as a rationale for its finding that a deferred retirement benefit became payable to Ms. Assebe upon her separation from service was flawed on the basis that she did not elect for a deferred retirement benefit. UNAT held that...

UNAT held that there was nothing arbitrary about the impugned decision of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), UNJSPF, as it was based on reports by the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund between July 2011 and February 2013. UNAT held that good reason had been established for the CEO to decide on 31 July 2011 as the proper date for the suspension of the two-track system in Argentina, notwithstanding that there were previous statements regarding the reliability of the consumer price index (CPI) data in Argentina. UNAT held that it was satisfied that such a decision was a proper...