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The UNAT held that Mr. Kankwenda, a late participant in the UNJSPF, married another individual, Ms. M.T., in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 1971.  This fact, which Ms. Isasi herself did not contest, was supported by a marriage certificate and was consistent with the information regarding the dates of birth of Mr. Kankwenda’s children and the identities of their mothers.  The UNAT highlighted that Ms. Isasi admitted that the two marriage certificates she submitted after Mr. Kankwenda’s death, purportedly showing their marriage on 17 January 1971, were falsified, undermining her...

The UNAT considered an appeal by the participant in the Fund.

The UNAT found that the facts suggest that the participant’s withdrawal settlement funds were paid into a bank account which had not been opened by him. At the same time, there were unanswered questions as to how the participant had bank statements and cancelled cheques from this account if he had not opened it. In addition, given the mismatch between the participant’s name and the name of the holder of the bank account, there was no explanation as to why the wire transfer had been allowed to proceed and had not been rejected.

The...

The UNAT denied Ms. Banyanga’s appeal and affirmed the decision of the Standing Committee.  The UNAT found that Ms. Banyanga had not adequately explained the inconsistencies between her own personal information and the information submitted by Mr. Mbirange regarding his reported spouse (including that the name “Banyanga” did not appear in the documentation that Mr. Mbirange provided about his spouse).

The UNAT also rejected Ms. Banyanga’s reliance on the marriage certificate that she submitted, which showed a purported date of marriage in 1997.  The UNAT observed that Mr. Mbirange entered...

The UNAT dismissed the appeal.

The UNAT first held that the UNDT erred in law in retroactively applying WMO Staff Rule 193.3(c) when it examined her right to a termination indemnity. At the time the impugned decision was taken, only the 2019 WMO Staff Regulations and Rules were in force and should have been applied. The UNDT made an error in applying the 2020 law based on the Secretary-General’s submission of the wrong version of the WMO Regulations and Rules to the UNDT.

The UNAT affirmed the UNDT's finding that the Administration’s response to a request for management evaluation is not a...

UNAT considered the appeal and affirmed UNJSPF’s decision. UNAT found that UNJSPF submitted credible evidence that demonstrated that the Cameroon divorce decree was invalid and that the deceased at no time commenced proceedings to dissolve his marriage to his first wife apart from the USA divorce proceedings, which were terminated by his death. In drawing this conclusion, UNAT found it unnecessary to address the additional reliefs sought by the Appellant. UNAT accordingly affirmed UNJSPF’s decision to award the widow’s benefit to the former staff member’s first wife and denied all reliefs...

UNAT considered the Appellant’s appeal and affirmed the decisions of UNJSPB Standing Committee. UNAT found that the Appellant’s first ground of appeal had no merit, noting that the Appellant had prior notice of her separation and could have exercised her right to restore her participation prior to the time of her separation in accordance with Section F. 1 of the Pension Fund’s Administrative Rules, which she failed to do. UNAT held that UNJSPF Standing Committee had no discretion to make an exception in this case and the Standing Committee’s decision not to restore the Appellant’s prior...

UNAT noted that: the Sidells were negligent in not reporting their marriage before their separation from service; Mr Sidell notified UNJSPF in October 2003 of his marriage to Mrs Sidell and UNJSPF requested him to provide his original marriage certificate, which he did; and UNJSPF did not follow up with Mr Sidell about the matter. UNAT held that UNJSPF, by remaining silent, created a reasonable expectation on the part of the Sidells that Mr Sidell’s pension record was corrected and that his marriage to Mr Sidell was recognised by UNJSPF. UNAT held that, in the circumstances, it was...

UNAT held that the Standing Committee did not err in holding the application was not receivable ratione temporis. UNAT noted that, in refusing to receive the application, the Standing Committee also implicitly refused to find “good cause” to waive the sixty days’ time limit for review set forth in Section K of the UNJSPF Administrative Rules. UNAT also found no error in this implicit determination and held that a waiver of five years for review by the Standing Committee would be unreasonable, especially in light of the time limits in the Transfer Agreement between UNJSPF and CTBTO. UNAT...

UNAT held that the Standing Committee correctly determined that the applicable rules provide that the pension participant is required to inform UNJPSF in writing of the benefit election made and of any commutation elected and that there was no provision for third party advisement. UNAT held that the Standing Committee’s reliance on Article 30(b) of the UNJSPF Regulations as a rationale for its finding that a deferred retirement benefit became payable to Ms. Assebe upon her separation from service was flawed on the basis that she did not elect for a deferred retirement benefit. UNAT held that...

UNAT held that the Appellant was fully apprised of the options available to him in relation to his pension benefits when his first contract with the Organisation ended in 1985. UNAT held that the Appellant’s election to transfer his actuarial value to the Social Security Fund of the USSR terminated his contractual relationship with the UNJSPF. UNAT held that the right to restore past contributory service was only available to participants in terms of Article 24 of the UNJSPF Regulations, who had less than five years’ previous contributory service and whose only available benefit was a...