2013-UNAT-362, S. Nourain & A. Nourain
UNAT considered two appeals, one by Ms S. Nourain and one by Ms A Nourain, against judgment No. UNDT/2012/142. UNAT dismissed Ms A. Nourain’s appeal as she was not a party to the proceedings and had no standing to appeal. UNAT held that the facts were not disputed; the misconduct had been established and so had its seriousness. UNAT held that it could not say that the sanction of dismissal was unfair or disproportionate to the seriousness of the offences. UNAT dismissed the appeal of Ms A Nourain as not receivable and the appeal of Ms S. Nourain on the merits.
UNDT judgment: The Applicants, sisters, contested the decisions to separate them from service. Ms S. Nourain had made a material omission in her Personal History Profile (PHP) by failing to disclose that her sister also worked for African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) and she failed to respond to the investigator’s requests for information. Of the two sisters, only Ms S. Nourain filed an application with UNDT. UNDT rejected her application.
UNAT will not substitute its own judgment for that of the competent decision-maker.