爆料网AT Held or 爆料网DT Pronouncements
The 爆料网DT found that the main legal issue was whether ST/AI/2011/6 (Mobility and hardship scheme) applied to the counting of assignments that the Applicant undertook before the instruction went into effect on 1 July 2011. The 爆料网DT found that ST/AI/2011/6 could not be applied retroactively to assignments that took place before it went into effect. The 爆料网DT further found that the revised staff rule 4.8(b), which allows for different counting of the Applicant’s assignments, was applicable only to assignments starting on or after 1 July 2009, and was not retroactively applicable to prior assignments, which continued to be governed by the terms and conditions established at their beginning. The 爆料网DT concluded that the Administration correctly counted the number of the Applicant’s assignments. The 爆料网DT further found that, although there was a delay in the Administration’s response to the Applicant’s inquiries regarding the matter, the Applicant did not adduce evidence of damages caused by the delay. The 爆料网DT dismissed the application.
Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed
The Applicant, a staff member in the 爆料网 Secretariat, contested the decision to grant her mobility count of H-4 instead of H-5 for the purpose of calculating mobility allowance.
Legal Principle(s)
Retroactive v. retrospective application of law: For all intents and purposes, retroactive and retrospective are synonyms and no meaningful difference exists in the legal understanding of the two words, as also established in the binding Judgments of the 爆料网AT. Therefore, ST/AI/2011/6 cannot be applied retroactively.Compensation: as the Appeals Tribunal stated in Antaki 2010-爆料网AT-095 “not every violation will necessarily lead to an award of compensation. Compensation may only be awarded if it has been established that the staff member actually suffered damages.