The UNDT found that the Administration failed to fully honour the material provisions of staff rule 13.1 with respect to the Applicant. The UNDT found that the Organization committed material irregularities and failed to act fully in compliance with the requirements of staff rule 13.1(d) and (e) and 9.6(e) The onus was on the Administration to carry out a matching exercise and find a suitable post for the Applicant, who was a permanent staff member, prior to opening the vacancy to others. The UNDT found that, because the Applicant was able to secure alternative employment, albeit at a lower...
Regulation 1.2
The UNDT found that the Administration failed to fully honour the material provisions of staff rule 13.1 with respect to the Applicant. The UNDT found that the Organization committed material irregularities and failed to act fully in compliance with the requirements of staff rule 13.1(d) and (e) and 9(6)(e) The onus was on the Administration to carry out a matching exercise and find a suitable post for the Applicant, who was a permanent staff member, prior to opening the vacancy to others. The UNDT found that the Applicant’s termination was unlawful because he did not receive proper...
Where a member of an assessment panel is conflicted, s/he cannot take part in the selection process. It is irrelevant for the outcome of the present case, that the Head, PMCS, and the Director, DESS, confirmed in their evidence to the Tribunal that they did not feel any bias or resentment against the Applicant. Indeed, a subjective feeling is irrelevant and the question of impartiality or bias has to be analysed from the point of view of a fair-minded objective observer. It is also irrelevant whether the Applicant had a subjective feeling that one or more of the Panel members were biased...
No legal implementation of an expired decision: The Tribunal underlines that, after its expiration a decision cannot any longer produce legal effects and therefore cannot be implemented and / or extended and that any such action constitutes itself a breach of procedural fairness.
Receivability Immunities have been incorporated into the terms of appointment of United Nations staff members—including at the highest level of the Organization’s legal order and ever since its inception—thereby becoming part and parcel of their status and conditions of service. Furthermore, a decision to waive the immunity of a given staff member has evident—potentially dramatic—effects on his or her legal situation. Thus, the contested decision meets all the features of the definition of an administrative decision adopted by the Appeals Tribunal. Accordingly, the Tribunal found the...
The Applicant’s actions were reasonable and in accordance with her obligation to carefully verify the cost of administrative services, procurement and logistical support, since all the costs were supported by UNAMI, in order to ensure that all the provisions of the OIOS Audit Manual were respected. There was no concrete negative result on the planned audit resulting from the annulment of the first MOP and that the Applicant’s actions, which she was taking in her capacity as CMS in UNAMI, consisting in a careful review of the alternative means to a face-to-face visit which could have resulted...
UNDT held that it was a case in which the host country was not forthcoming or did not provide reasons which justified the PNG decision. UNDT held that once the Organisation had verbally stated, determined and notified the Applicant that the allegations against her were not considered misconduct, it had a duty as per Hassouna (UNDT/2014/094) not to change the terms and conditions of her contract. UNDT held that the Secretary-General had the power to reassign the Applicant on an exceptional basis and should have done so. UNDT held that, according to Hassouna, the Organisation could not resort to...
The Tribunal did not agree with the Respondent that the actions of the Applicant as seen on the video footages were sufficient to rise to the required standard of proof of clear and convincing evidence to establish stealing; but found that the actions of the Applicant after he left with the shopping bag and the glaring inconsistencies in his testimony clearly pointed to a level of dishonesty betraying guilty knowledge that he did not pay for the items at issue. In other words, the Applicant knew that he did not pay for certain items especially after he, a career security officer, was accosted...
The Applicant was charged with having engaged in two acts of misconduct, namely: cheating and helping others cheat in the psychometric and English language tests of the Entry-Level Humanitarian Professional Programme (EHP). The Tribunal pronouncements are reflected following the different steps in the analysis of the contested decision. Have the facts on which the disciplinary measure was based been established? The Tribunal found that the investigation report clearly stated the facts and the alleged misconduct. It also provided substantial and critical assessment of the evidence presented to...
The Applicant was charged with having engaged in misconduct, namely: cheating and helping others cheat in the psychometric and English language tests of the Entry-Level Humanitarian Professional Programme (EHP). The Tribunal pronouncements are reflected following the different steps in the analysis of the contested decision. Have the facts on which the disciplinary measure was based been established? The Tribunal found that the investigation report clearly stated the facts and the alleged misconduct. It also provided substantial and critical assessment of the evidence presented to the...