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The ±¬ÁÏÍøAT decided that mistakes in the way the summary dismissal decision was communicated to the appellant did not affect the fact that the real decision had ultimately been taken by the competent person in the Commissioner-General and not by any delegated authority.

It was undisputed that Mr. Mohammad was not afforded the opportunity to comment on the additional evidence produced against him after the re-opening of the investigation (two interviews of student B¡¯s mother and student B). However, neither in his appeal nor in his initial application to the ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA DT did he point out any...

The ±¬ÁÏÍøAT first dismissed Mr. Okwakol¡¯s appeal of the ±¬ÁÏÍøDT Order, finding that Mr. Okwakol¡¯s complaints about what the ±¬ÁÏÍøDT decided it would admit into evidence and what submissions it would consider in deciding his substantive case, were remediable as part of his appeal on the merits if they were wrongly decided.

The ±¬ÁÏÍøAT agreed that the ±¬ÁÏÍøDT was correct to admit the audio-recording made by the SEA victim because this evidentiary material was relied upon by the Administration in taking the decision to impose the disciplinary measure of separation from service. The audio-recording needed to...

The ±¬ÁÏÍøAT first dismissed as not receivable Mr. Loto¡¯s appeal of the ±¬ÁÏÍøDT¡¯s Order denying his motion to strike an audio-recording and certain pleadings submitted by the Secretary-General. The ±¬ÁÏÍøAT held that these matters could be addressed in Mr. Loto¡¯s appeal of the judgment on the merits of his application.

The ±¬ÁÏÍøAT was satisfied that the ±¬ÁÏÍøDT correctly admitted the audio-recording of the meeting between the alleged victim, Mr. Loto and others, as the recording assisted in resolving any evidential conflict about what transpired at this meeting, in which payment to the victim was discussed...

The ±¬ÁÏÍøDT was faced with two irreconcilable versions of the case, and thus it was necessary for the ±¬ÁÏÍøDT to satisfy itself on the credibility and reliability of the various factual witnesses and probabilities. This task was made especially difficult for the ±¬ÁÏÍøDT since the relevant witnesses did not present their evidence in person. In this case, the evidence presented by the Secretary-General was of an exceedingly limited nature and value. The Secretary-General relied exclusively on the contents of the written report of the OIOS investigation, which was entirely hearsay and, in some instances...

The documents on file, and in particular the notice of dismissal, show that the Applicant was employed by a private company. Other than the Applicant¡¯s unsupported statement in his personal details form when filing his submissions that his Office of employment was ¡°ITC¡±, there is no evidence on record showing that he has any contractual relationship with the United Nations within the meaning of art. 3 of the Tribunal¡¯s Statute. As such, the Applicant has no locus standi before this Tribunal.

Moreover, while the Applicant is contesting a disciplinary measure, it was imposed neither by the...

The ±¬ÁÏÍøAT held that the staff member was responsible for having agreed that the ±¬ÁÏÍøDT should hear no direct evidence from witnesses in person but should decide the matter on the documents submitted. As an inquisitorial and not a solely adversarial tribunal, the ±¬ÁÏÍøDT could nevertheless have held a hearing. The ±¬ÁÏÍøAT found that the ±¬ÁÏÍøDT was entitled to conclude on the complainant¡¯s evidence alone that the staff member had engaged in a sexual relationship with her. Their sexual relationship was employment-related and thereby transactional. The ±¬ÁÏÍøDT was entitled to conclude that this was an...

The ±¬ÁÏÍøAT held that the Dispute Tribunal correctly reasoned that under the ±¬ÁÏÍøFPA Disciplinary Framework, the assessment of the facts of misconduct is not exclusive to OAIS, but that the Director of the Department of Human Resources (Director/DHR) must also analyze the evidence, and such analysis could lead DHR to a different conclusion than that of OAIS. Accordingly, in this case, the ±¬ÁÏÍøAT found that the ±¬ÁÏÍøFPA Administration had the authority or locus standi to proceed with a disciplinary process even in the absence of a finding of misconduct by OAIS. The ±¬ÁÏÍøAT further held that the ±¬ÁÏÍøFPA...

The Tribunal found that there were severe failures in affording the Applicant due process during the investigation. After first interviewing her as a non-subject, SIU later decided that she would be a subject of the investigation but did not then afford her the due process entitlements under section 10 of ST/AI/2017/1. While there was procedural unfairness to the Applicant, inefficiency and a lack of reporting transparency; there was no due process failing on the part of the decision-maker since her decision expressly considered not only the SIU investigation report but also the Applicant¡¯s...

It was crucial for the Tribunal to examine the relationship between the Applicant and the alleged victim of his behaviour. There was clear evidence of constant financial support to the complainant/victim. The Applicant built a relationship of trust with the complainant/victimthe where she was able to rely on him for support and was comfortable to meet with him outside of the ±¬ÁÏÍøFPA Malawi Country Office. The victim was placed in a very vulnerable position. The abuse by the Applicant was not an isolated episode, as the Applicant is accused also for sexual assault and harassment in different...

±¬ÁÏÍøAT held that ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA DT did not commit an error in procedure, such as to affect the decision of the case pursuant to Article 2(1) of the ±¬ÁÏÍøAT Statute. ±¬ÁÏÍøAT rejected the argument that the fact that the Appellant did not receive the recordings of the hearing or transcript affected the decision of the case. ±¬ÁÏÍøAT held that the Appellant merely repeated arguments raised before ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA DT. ±¬ÁÏÍøAT accepted ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA DT¡¯s finding that the Appellant had ample opportunity to respond to allegations and provide comments on the investigation report and exhibits. ±¬ÁÏÍøAT held that ±¬ÁÏÍøRWA DT made fundamental errors of...