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The Tribunal found that the Applicant had not discharged the burden of proving improper motives or bias against the Respondent.

Of all the eight alleged acts/omissions on which the Applicant based the complaint that his "partially satisfactory" rating was motivated by bias and ill-motive were speculative and the impugned assessment was not tainted by bias or improper motives. The Tribunal concluded that the fact that the Talent Management Review Group did not afford the Applicant an opportunity to present his case could not, ground a finding of bias and improper motive.

The UNAT held that UNRWA DT exercised its discretion to proceed by summary judgment, without examining the merits of the case, lawfully and appropriately.  It found that in this way, the UNRWA DT acted not only in accordance with the principles of judicial economy and efficiency, but also in the interest of expeditious disposal of the case.

The UNAT found that the Appellant received the contested administrative decision on 3 November 2009 and filed his application with the UNRWA DT on 12 August 2022.  Therefore, it was obvious that he filed his application more than three years after his...

The application was dismissed.

The documents on file, and in particular the notice of dismissal, show that the Applicant was employed by a private company. Other than the Applicant’s unsupported statement in his personal details form when filing his submissions that his Office of employment was “ITC”, there is no evidence on record showing that he has any contractual relationship with the United Nations within the meaning of art. 3 of the Tribunal’s Statute. As such, the Applicant has no locus standi before this Tribunal.

Moreover, while the Applicant is contesting a disciplinary measure, it was imposed neither by the...

The Tribunal noted that the evidence before it included two Microsoft Outlook notifications which established that the administrative decision was delivered to and read by the Applicant on 28 March 2023. The Tribunal further noted that the Applicant did not deny the authenticity of the Microsoft Outlook notifications.

The Tribunal thus held that that the Applicant should have filed his application no later than 26 June 2023 to comply with the 90-calendar day deadline. He filed his application on 28 June 2023, which was two days after the statutory deadline. Accordingly, the application was...

i. The Tribunal noted that based on the evidence on the record, the Applicant was never a staff member of ECA, DOS or any other entity of the United Nations. Accordingly, he had no locus standi before the Tribunal. The application was thus dismissed.

ii. The Tribunal also held that the application was barred by res judicata. It was recalled that the Tribunal had previously rejected an application by the Applicant contesting the same claims he raised in the present application. In Judgment No. UNDT/2022/078, the Tribunal had found that the Applicant was not a staff member and had no legal...

Having reviewed all the factors used in determining the appropriate sanction for the Applicant’s misconduct, the Tribunal finds that the USG/DMSPC has provided sufficient reasoning in the contested decision and has established a rational connection or relationship between the evidence and the objective of the disciplinary action.

The Secretary-General appealed.

The UNAT found that the UNDT erred in law and fact and reached a manifestly unreasonable decision by concluding that Mr. Hossain had proved on a balance of probabilities that the administrative decision not to renew his fixed-term appointment had been motivated by improper motives and he had been discriminated against. The reasons proffered by the Administration for not renewing Mr. Hossain’s fixed-term appointment, namely the abolition of his post in the context of a reorganization exercise, were valid reasons. 

The UNAT further held that contrary to what Mr...

The UNAT held that the Dispute Tribunal erred in law and exceeded its jurisdiction in finding that Mr. Suarez Liste be granted additional steps upon initial appointment contrary to the Grading Guidelines for language staff. The UNDT improperly broadened the definition and criteria of “relevant work experience” in the Grading Guidelines to include additional academic qualifications.  By doing so, the UNDT had created a new factor or criterion in the application of the Grading Guidelines, e.g., consideration of a Ph.D. in the step-in-grade calculation. The UNAT held that this was a policy...

The UNAT considered an appeal by the Commissioner-General of the UNRWA.

The UNAT found that by the Commissioner-General had been ordered to take a new decision with respect to the staff member’s request in view of the increase in his managerial and budgetary duties and responsibilities.

The UNAT was of the view that the Commissioner-General had not been specifically ordered to upgrade his post or to grant him a special allowance; the UNRWA DT had deemed it to be within the discretion of the Commissioner-General to decide whether or not he should be compensated.  

The UNAT noted that the...

The UNAT denied the Appellant’s request for an oral hearing.  It held that, pursuant to Article 18 of the Appeals Tribunal Rules of Procedure, an oral hearing would not be of any assistance in this case as the issue for consideration was straightforward and not complex. 

The UNAT found that the Appellant’s attempt to broaden the scope of the issue for consideration was untenable.  The UNAT concluded that it was clearly agreed at the case management discussion (CMD) that the issue for determination was the desired reclassification of Mr. Menon's post from the P-4 to the P-5 level and that the...

The UNAT considered an appeal by the staff member.

The UNAT found that the UNDT had reviewed the disciplinary decision thoroughly and methodically; the UNDT had not erred in fact or law in conducting the proportionality analysis and there had been no irregularity in the investigation and disciplinary process, warranting intervention.  

The UNAT agreed that the obligation not to disclose internal information is not limited to confidential information.  The UNAT found that even if the staff member had liaison functions with member states, it did not give her the right to communicate internal...

The UNAT first dismissed Mr. Okwakol’s appeal of the UNDT Order, finding that  Mr. Okwakol’s complaints about what the UNDT decided it would admit into evidence and what submissions it would consider in deciding his substantive case, were remediable as part of his appeal on the merits if they were wrongly decided.

The UNAT agreed that the UNDT was correct to admit the audio-recording made by the SEA victim because this evidentiary material was relied upon by the Administration in taking the decision to impose the disciplinary measure of separation from service.  The audio-recording needed to...

The Applicant did not deny the authenticity of the Microsoft Outlook notifications. This meant that the Applicant should have filed his application no later than 26 June 2023 to comply with the 90-calendar day deadline.

He filed his application on 28 June 2023, which was two days after the statutory deadline so the application was dismissed as not receivable.

Receivability

The Respondent challenged the receivability of the application. He argued that the Dispute Tribunal may only issue an Order for execution under art. 12.4 of its Statute where a judgment required a time limit for execution and such execution had not been carried out.

The Tribunal considered that while Judgment Applicant UNDT/2022/055 did not provide for its execution within a certain period of time, it was reasonable to infer that in the absence of an appeal, said judgment should have been executed within a reasonable time, after the expiry of the 60-day time limit to file an...

The UNAT held that the Applicant’s application for revision did not comply with the requirements set out in Article 11(1) of the Appeals Tribunal Statute and Article 24 of the Appeals Tribunal Rules of Procedure.  Indeed, it concluded that there was no fact discovered after the issuance of the UNAT Judgment, which was unknown to the Appeals Tribunal and to the Applicant.  Rather, it found that his submissions basically repeat or add to the same arguments which were previously assessed by the Agency, the UNRWA DT and the Appeals Tribunal.  It concluded that the only new arguments advanced by...

The UNAT held that the Appellant has failed to discharge her burden and has not demonstrated that the UNRWA DT committed any of the errors outlined in Article 2(1) of the UNAT Statute.  It concluded that the Appellant relitigated arguments that failed before the UNRWA Dispute Tribunal and expressed her general disagreement with the impugned Judgment.

The UNAT held that the contested decision was a valid and lawful exercise of the Agency’s discretion.  It found that the Agency reviewed and considered the Appellant’s request for telecommuting in accordance with the legal framework, i.e. Area...

The main issue presented in this appeal was whether the UNDT was correct to dismiss Mr. Shah’s application as not receivable ratione materiae because he was not challenging a final administrative decision.  The UNAT held that the UNDT correctly found that an interoffice memorandum that changed the reporting lines for all of the staff who worked on the India side of the United Nations Mission Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) was not an appealable administrative decision because it did not deprive Mr. Shah of his work or affect his functions. 

The UNAT also rejected Mr...

Regarding the ex-gratia claim, the Tribunal observed that the evidence of the fact that the Applicant was carrying out the functions of a P-4 post could be noted from the fact that the functions which the P-4 currently is performing are the same as those which the Applicant was performing before she was reassigned in 2021. The Tribunal, thus, concluded that the Administration violated the Applicant’s right to equal pay for equal work. The Applicant had the right to be compensated for her functions at the proper level, and therefore, she had the right to retroactive payment of salary lost...

The UNAT held that the UNRWA DT correctly exercised its broad discretion with regard to its case management in concluding that the record before it was sufficient to render a decision without an oral hearing.  It concluded that the Appellant has not presented any grounds as to why an oral hearing would have been necessary and thus did not show that the UNRWA DT exercised its discretion in such manner as to affect the outcome of the case, as required by Article 2(1)(d) of the Appeals Tribunal Statute.

With regard to the Appellant’s argument that the non-selection decision was unlawful because...