2014-UNAT-449

2014-UNAT-449, Thweib & Al Hasanat

UNAT Held or UNDT Pronouncements

UNAT considered the Commissioner-General’s appeal. UNAT noted that due process required both parties to be given an opportunity to present their case, and not allowing them to do so resulted in a miscarriage of justice. UNAT found that UNRWA DT’s exclusion of the Commissioner-General from participating in the proceedings was a clear violation of due process such as to affect the decision of the case, which must result in the judgment being annulled and the cases remanded for a hearing de novo before a different Judge. UNAT noted it was, thus, not necessary to consider the other grounds of appeal. UNAT allowed the appeal in part, set aside UNRWA DT’s judgment, and remanded the cases for a hearing de novo before a different UNRWA DT Judge, with leave for the Commissioner-General to participate in the proceedings and file a reply in each case.

Decision Contested or Judgment Appealed

Ms Thweib submitted an application contesting the decision to place a note of misconduct on her record. Ms Al Hasanat submitted an application contesting the decision to issue her a written censure and to suspend her from duty without pay for one week for misconduct. UNRWA DT found that UNRWA breached Ms Thweib and Ms Al Hasanat’s rights of due process and failed to establish the facts on which it premised its accusations and findings of misconduct. UNRWA DT rescinded the impugned decisions and ordered that all references thereto be expunged from their official status files. UNRWA DT also awarded Ms Al Hasanat compensation equal to the salary loss she incurred during her one-week suspension without pay and for moral damages. UNRWA DT awarded Ms Thweib moral damages.

Legal Principle(s)

Left deliberately blank

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.

Full Judgment

Applicants/ Appellants

Thweib & Al Hasanat

Entity

UNRWA

Case Number(s)

2013-518

Tribunal

UNAT

Registry Location :

New York