2012-UNAT-252 | SYSTEM OF ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE

2012-UNAT-252, Khambatta

UNAT Held or UNDT Pronouncements

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT held that appeals against decisions taken during proceedings are receivable only in exceptional circumstances where UNDT has manifestly exceeded its jurisdiction. UNAT held that even though UNDT may have committed a procedural error, it had not exceeded its jurisdiction. UNAT dismissed the appeal.

Decision Contested or Judgment Appealed

UNDT Judgment: The Applicant filed an application for suspension of action of the decision not to extend her temporary appointment. UNDT ordered suspension of the decision not to extend her contract pending the outcome of the management evaluation, since all the conditions listed in Article 2.2 of the Tribunal’s Statute had been fulfilled.

Legal Principle(s)

This tribunal has consistently held that as a general rule only appeals against judgments concerning matters of substance are receivable. Appeals against decisions taken during proceedings, however, denominated by the UNDT (order, judgment, etc.), are non-receivable save in those exceptional cases where the UNDT has clearly exceeded its competence.

Outcome

Appeal dismissed on merits

OAJ prepared this case law summary for informational purposes only. It is no official record and should not be relied upon as an authoritative interpretation of the Tribunals' rulings. For the authoritative texts, please refer to the judgment or order rendered by the respective Tribunal. The Tribunals are the only bodies competent to interpret their respective judgments, as provided under Article 12(3) of the UNDT Statute and Article 11(3) of the UNAT Statute. Any inaccuracies in the publication are the sole responsibility of OAJ, which should be contacted directly for any correction requests. To provide comments, don't hesitate to get in touch with OAJ at oaj@un.org.

The judgment summaries were generally prepared in English. They were translated into French and are being reviewed for accuracy of the translation.

Full Judgment

Applicants/ Appellants

Khambatta

Entity

DPKO

Case Number(s)

2012-319

Tribunal

UNAT

Registry Location :

New York