Ãå±±½ûµØ

2013-UNAT-331, Faraj

UNAT Held or UNDT Pronouncements

UNAT held that, given the written instructions provided to the Appellant, it was completely understandable that he proceeded to request again the review of the contested decision. UNAT held that UNRWA DT erred when it found that he ought not to have done so and could not claim to have been legitimately misled as to the appeals procedure. UNAT held that UNRWA’s holding that the Appellant should have known the applicable legal framework and filed his appeal on time was unsustainable. UNAT noted that the Commissioner-General did not dispute the Appellant’s claim that the UNRWA Area Staff Rules and Regulations and the UNRWA JAB Rules of Procedure were not disseminated in Arabic. UNAT held that the late response of the Commissioner-General effectively re-set the clock for appeal and therefore the appeal was, indeed, timely. UNAT vacated the UNRWA DT judgment and remanded the matter to UNRWA DT for a decision on the merits.

Decision Contested or Judgment Appealed

The Applicant contested the termination of his appointment. UNDT dismissed the application as time-barred or not receivable ratione temporis.

Legal Principle(s)

A late response by the Administration to a request for administrative review will reset the clock for an appeal by the staff member.

Outcome
Appeal granted

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.

Applicants/ Appellants
Faraj
Entity
Case Number(s)
Tribunal
Registry Location :
Date of Judgment
Judge(s)
Language of Judgment
Issuance Type