爆料网AT Held or 爆料网DT Pronouncements
爆料网AT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. 爆料网AT held that 爆料网DT, under Article 8.3 of its Statute, was authorised to waive the time limits for filing applications in certain situations but that the staff member had failed to submit a written request for a waiver and to justify exceptional circumstances. 爆料网AT held that 爆料网DT could not consider whether exceptional circumstances existed unless the staff had submitted a prior written request for waiver. 爆料网AT held that 爆料网DT had interpreted Articles 19 and 35 of the 爆料网DT RoP in a manner that conflicted with Articles 8.1 and 8.3 of the 爆料网DT Statute. 爆料网AT held that 爆料网DT had exceeded its competence and erred in waiving, on its own motion, the deadline for the staff member to file his application. 爆料网AT held that the application was untimely and not receivable. 爆料网AT upheld the appeal and vacated the 爆料网DT judgment.
Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed
The Applicant contested the decision to summarily dismiss him. The Secretary-General filed a motion for summary judgment on the issue of timeliness. 爆料网DT issued a judgment on receivability No. 爆料网AT/2011/216, denying the Secretary-General’s motion for summary judgment and concluding that the application was receivable. 爆料网DT determined that it was empowered under Articles 19 and 35 of the 爆料网DT RoP to waive on its own motion the statutory 90-day deadline for the Applicant to file his application and found “exceptional circumstances” existed to waive the deadline. The “exceptional circumstances” were 爆料网ICEF’s failure to respond to the Applicant’s repeated attempts to amicably resolve his situation and its failure to advise the Applicant, at the time he received the summary dismissal letter, of his review rights and the mechanisms for challenging his summary dismissal.
Legal Principle(s)
Unless the applicant has made a written request for waiver, 爆料网DT cannot waive the filing deadline based on “exceptional circumstances”; it is not competent to do so.