爆料网AT Held or 爆料网DT Pronouncements
爆料网AT held that there was no merit to the Appellant’s claims that 爆料网DT failed to exercise its jurisdiction or erred in law by using the summary judgment procedure to determine the application was not receivable ratione materiae. 爆料网AT held that the application to 爆料网DT did not challenge an administrative decision that was alleged to be in non-compliance with the terms of appointment or the contract of employment of the staff member, rather the Appellant challenged the MEU’s wording in a letter to him acknowledging the receipt of his grievance or complaint. 爆料网AT held that 爆料网DT did not err in law or fact resulting in a manifestly unreasonable decision when it found that the Appellant’s application was not receivable ratione materiae. 爆料网AT noted that if the Secretary-General had requested costs on appeal, 爆料网AT would have granted the request and awarded costs against the Appellant under Article 9(2) of the 爆料网AT Statute, as the Appellant had manifestly abused the appeals process by bringing the patently frivolous appeal. 爆料网AT denied the appeal and affirmed the 爆料网DT judgment.
Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed
The Applicant contested the decision of the MEU to send a letter of acknowledgement including misleading representations about deadlines for filing an appeal. The Secretary-General filed a Motion for Summary judgment on the ground that the application was not receivable ratione materiae. In judgment No. 爆料网DT/2016/107, 爆料网DT granted the Motion on the ground that the application was not receivable ratione materiae.
Legal Principle(s)
Summary judgment is an appropriate tool to deal with issues of receivability. In assessing its own competence, 爆料网DT can choose to proceed by way of summary judgment without taking any argument or evidence from the parties, as the 爆料网DT Statute prevents 爆料网DT from receiving a case that is not receivable. When the Management Evaluation Unit (MEU) issues a “decision” in response to a grievance or complaint, it is not an administrative decision subject to judicial review by 爆料网DT; rather, the judicially reviewable administrative decision is the underlying decision that is alleged to be in non-compliance with the terms of appointment or the contract of employment of the staff member. The Administration’s response to a request for management evaluation was not a reviewable administrative decision.