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Receivability

The Applicant alleged that she was required to work during July and August 2022, before the beginning of her appointment, on the assurances that she would be compensated for the said period. However, she did not receive such compensation.

First, the Tribunal noted that the Applicant was not a staff member in July and August 2022, when she claims that she was required to work as her appointment with ±¬ÁÏÍøDP only started on 1 September 2022. Therefore, the Applicant had no standing to contest such a decision at the time.

Second, even considering that the Applicant could have contested...

The Appeals Tribunal found that the ±¬ÁÏÍøDT correctly held that it was within the SRO's discretion to make comments on Ms. Abdellaoui¡¯s performance, that the SRO's disputed comments were reasonable and balanced by other comments that provided a positive perspective supporting the overall rating, and that as such they did not detract from the overall satisfactory appraisal. Accordingly, the Appeals Tribunal concurred with the ±¬ÁÏÍøDT¡¯s determination that the challenged performance evaluation was not an ¡°administrative decision¡± and agreed that the application was therefore not receivable ratione...

The ±¬ÁÏÍøAT held that although the former staff member did not receive the full investigation report until after the disciplinary process was concluded, there was no due process violation because the opportunity to respond letter was detailed, and he received the full investigation report early in the Dispute Tribunal proceedings.

The ±¬ÁÏÍøAT held that the Dispute Tribunal had appropriately heard live testimony from numerous witnesses, all of whom were subject to cross-examination, and had admitted certain hearsay statements using established methods of corroboration. The ±¬ÁÏÍøAT held that the Dispute...

The ±¬ÁÏÍøAT noted that the Administration had initiated a preliminary investigation into the staff member¡¯s conduct with regard to the ostensible theft of cash from the office safe, reached agreements with him regarding repayment, and then sought initiation of criminal proceedings by filing a criminal complaint and delivering him to the local police. The ±¬ÁÏÍøAT found that because the underlying facts of the case involved his conduct as a United Nations staff member towards his employer, the ±¬ÁÏÍøDT should have been competent to review his application on the merits, had it been timely filed.

The ±¬ÁÏÍøAT...

As a preliminary matter, the Appeals Tribunal dismissed the Appellants' requests for an oral hearing on grounds that an oral hearing would not be expeditious and that in light of comprehensive written submissions nothing would be gained from hearing the Appellants¡¯ counsel in person.

The Appeals Tribunal found that in the absence of an express promise of renewal of the Appellants¡¯ fixed-term appointments, the Appellants did not have a legitimate expectation of renewal of their fixed-term contracts. The statements giving assurances to ±¬ÁÏÍøOPS staff members were not made by a ±¬ÁÏÍøOPS official with...

The ±¬ÁÏÍøAT 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 ±¬ÁÏÍøAT dismissed the appeal and affirmed Judgment No. ±¬ÁÏÍøDT/2023/107, albeit for different reasons, with Judge Colgan dissenting.

The ±¬ÁÏÍøAT upheld the ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA DT¡¯s determination of the former staff member¡¯s chances of selection for the position at one-fourth on alternative grounds. The ±¬ÁÏÍøAT held that the ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA DT appropriately considered the possibility that the Agency could have introduced additional candidates on an equivalency basis during a second review after the shortlisting phase. In particular, the ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA DT held that, since the sufficient number of candidates for a competitive exercise was normally between three to five candidates per vacancy, it was reasonable to expect that the Agency would have brought more...

The ±¬ÁÏÍøAT held that the ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA DT rightly identified that the standard of proof for placing the staff member on ALWOP was whether there was reasonable suspicion or reasonable grounds to believe that the staff member had committed the alleged misconduct.

The ±¬ÁÏÍøAT rejected the staff member¡¯s argument that his ex-wife¡¯s withdrawal of the complaint against him in a national court should have stopped all investigations against him. The ±¬ÁÏÍøAT noted that the national court had provided the case records to the Agency, and the Agency, following its complete assessment of the situation, can proceed with...

The ±¬ÁÏÍøAT held that the staff member¡¯s motion for recusal of the ±¬ÁÏÍøAT Registrar had no merit. The ±¬ÁÏÍøAT noted that the decision to administratively close the case had been taken by the ±¬ÁÏÍøAT President and communicated to the parties as such by the ±¬ÁÏÍøAT Registrar in her letter. The ±¬ÁÏÍøAT found that it followed from the administrative closure of a case that parties no longer had the right to access the Court Case Management System under the case number in question. The ±¬ÁÏÍøAT held that the ±¬ÁÏÍøAT Registrar¡¯s decisions to reject as manifestly inadmissible the staff member¡¯s filings following the case...