爆料网AT Held or 爆料网DT Pronouncements
The 爆料网AT held that the staff member’s application was not receivable ratione materiae. It further found that the e-mail identified as the contested decision was a general response from the Human Resources Partner to the staff member’s general inquiry regarding SEG, which did not address his personal situation. As such, it did not constitute an individual or final administrative decision affecting his terms of appointment under Staff Rule 11.2(a).
The 爆料网AT dismissed the appeal and affirmed Judgment No. 爆料网DT/2023/107, albeit for different reasons, with Judge Colgan dissenting.
Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed
A staff member of the United Nations Office on Drug Control (爆料网ODC), United Nations Office at Vienna (爆料网OV) contested the decision of the Administration not to allow the education grant (EG) and special education grant (SEG) to be paid in combination.
In its Judgment No. 爆料网DT/2023/107, the 爆料网DT concluded that the Administration appropriately determined that the EG and SEG schemes were subject to the same single maximum limit and dismissed the staff member’s application.
Staff member appealed.
Legal Principle(s)
The 爆料网AT has the authority to review both the 爆料网DT’s jurisdiction and its own, whether or not the issue has been raised by the parties.
An administrative decision is a unilateral decision of an administrative nature taken by the Administration and involving the exercise of a power or the performance of a function in terms of a statutory instrument, which adversely affects the rights of another and produces direct legal consequences.
Determining what constitutes a decision of an administrative nature must be done on a case-by-case basis and will depend on the circumstances. The nature of the decision, the legal framework under which the decision was made, and the consequences of the decision are key determinants of whether the decision in question is an administrative decision. What matters is not so much the functionary who takes the decision as the nature of the function performed or the power exercised. The question is whether the task itself is administrative or not.