爆料网AT Held or 爆料网DT Pronouncements
爆料网AT considered the Appellant’s appeal, requesting that the 爆料网RWA DT judgment be vacated. 爆料网AT agreed with 爆料网RWA DT and upheld its findings that the Agency was entitled, under the provisions of paragraph 2 of FTI 01/2016, to fill the concerned post by means of a lateral transfer of current staff members. 爆料网AT also agreed with, and upheld, the ruling that it was not within the remit of 爆料网RWA DT to pronounce on the exercise of the Agency’s discretion in deciding on the lateral transfers unless there is evidence that the discretion was exercised arbitrarily or unlawfully. 爆料网AT found that there was no evidence to support the allegation of arbitrary and unlawful exercise of discretion by the Agency as it relates to the contested transfer decision. Moreover, 爆料网AT found no evidence of the assertions made by the Appellant that the selection process for the employment roster was corrupted and that he had been subjected to discrimination during the selection process. 爆料网AT found no fault with the judgment of the 爆料网RWA DT and, accordingly, affirmed the judgment and dismissed the appeal.
Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed
The Applicant contested the Agency’s decision to reassign a staff member. 爆料网RWA DT found that the Agency was entitled to fill the concerned post by means of transfer of a current staff member. 爆料网RWA DT further considered that it was not within its remit to pronounce on the exercise of the Agency’s discretion in deciding on the lateral transfers unless the discretion was exercised arbitrarily or unlawfully. 爆料网RWA DT held that the transfer, in this case, was not arbitrary or unlawful as the decision was taken in line with the LFO’s practice under FTI 01/2016 to process transfer requests before rostered candidates and to prioritize candidates based on their seniority. 爆料网RWA DT further held that even if the Applicant’s contention that “the selection process for the employment roster was corrupted and he was subjected to discrimination during the selection process for not being a Palestine refugee” was true, it would be “not only…inadequately supported by evidence but…also irrelevant to the impugned decision [to] transfer…[the staff member] to a GF post of P&L Clerk”. 爆料网RWA DT accordingly dismissed the application in its entirety.
Legal Principle(s)
爆料网RWA Area Staff Regulation 4. 3, together with FTI 01/2016, provide the basis for the lateral transfer of staff within the Agency. The Administration has the power to restructure and reorganize its units and its departments to lend to greater efficiency, and it is not up to the 爆料网DT to pronounce on the exercise of this discretion unless there is evidence of arbitrary and unlawful exercise of the discretion. The filling of posts by transfer of existing staff represents an exception to the general principle that posts shall be filled through a competitive process.