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UNAT considered the Appellant’s appeal and had to determine: whether her marriage to the late former staff member was legally valid at the time of his separation from the Organisation in 1998; and whether the Organisation created a legal expectancy of acknowledgement of benefits to the Appellant. UNAT found that the former staff member’s alleged divorce from his first wife was not legally valid because the authorities pronouncing it were not competent and did not apply the law under which the marriage had been concluded. It follows that his second marriage to the Appellant was not valid at the...

UNAT noted that the Appellants did not refer to any article of the Regulations that provides that the full retirement benefit may be restored after a participant opts to commute a portion of the retirement benefit into a lump sum. UNAT held that the Appellants were bound by their decision to accept one-third of their pension as a lump sum and a reduced pension. UNAT held that the Appellant’s decision could not simply be reversed. UNAT rejected the argument that the Appellants had been discriminated against and that their basic fundamental rights concerning equity, fairness, and justice under...

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...

In considering the Appellant’s appeal, UNAT found that the Standing Committee could not reject the request unless it disregarded the provisions of Article 33(a) of the UNJSPF Regulations. However, UNAT noted that it was not in a position to rule on the actual possibility for the Appellant to perform the duties of her respective position and held that the Standing Committee should reconsider the Appellant’s request. UNAT rescinded the Standing Committee’s decision and remanded the Appellant’s request to the Standing Committee for review.

UNAT took into account that the Appellant only made his request some 29 months after the expiration of the deadline and that he did not submit any medical report. UNAT held that the appeal was not receivable. UNAT dismissed the appeal and upheld the UNJSPB decision.

UNAT held that the Appellant was essentially seeking an amendment to the Regulations of the UNJPSF in such a way as to enable her benefit to be paid retroactively to the date of the death in service of her husband, which was prior to 1 April 1999. UNAT held that the criteria proposed by the Appellant to pay the benefit were not in force to be applied to her case. UNAT held that the UNJSPF correctly applied the UNJSPF Regulations. UNAT dismissed the appeal and affirmed the impugned decision.

UNAT held that the record reflected that: Michael and Jacqueline married in 1986; they had lived as husband and wife, and Jacqueline was Michael’s wife on the date of his separation from service in 1998 and on the date of his death in 2008. UNAT held that Michael’s first wife was unable to produce a marriage certificate and the divorce decree she produced was not proof of marriage, despite the date of marriage having been mentioned therein. UNAT held that the divorce decree could not be the sole basis of declaring Jacqueline’s marriage to Michael invalid. UNAT held that Jacqueline was entitled...

UNAT held that, since the Appellant was not a staff member of IOM at the time of the Agreement between the UNJSPF and IOM of 6 March 2006, the terms of the Agreement were not applicable to him as, by its terms, the Agreement only covered staff members who were current at the time of the Agreement. UNAT held that the different treatment of IOM staff members was created by the General Assembly. UNAT noted that restoration is an exceptional benefit that cannot be extended by analogy. UNAT held that the Appellant’s claim of inconsistency, unequal treatment, and arbitrariness by the UNJSPB was...

UNAT considered Mr Elguindi, Ms Onogi and Ms Sheryda’s separate appeals. With respect to Mr Elguindi’s claim, UNAT did not find that the manner in which UNJSPF apportioned his monthly pension sum to be unreasonable, capricious or an abuse of discretion. With respect to Ms Onogi’s claim of procedural defects, UNAT was not persuaded that there were procedural flaws on the part of UNJSPF such as to render the exercise of its discretion unreasonable or unlawful. UNAT also did not find merit in Mr Elguindi’s claim of “double-dipping” in his opposition to Ms Onogi’s claim for relief from UNJSPF...

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...