2014-UNAT-455

2014-UNAT-455, Guzman

UNAT Held or UNDT Pronouncements

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. As a preliminary matter, UNAT dismissed Ms Guzman’s Motion to file an Addendum to Answer the Secretary-General’s Appeal, after finding that the material she wished to submit was more properly suited for a hearing on the merits and was not germane to the issue being reviewed by UNAT. On the merits, UNAT found that UNDT’s conclusion that the contested decision was not affected by the exclusionary provision of Article 10(2) of its Statute and Article 14 of its Rules of Procedure was not supported by the contents of Ms Guzman’s amended Motion of 17 December 2013. UNAT found that it was clear that the contested decision was the decision informing Ms Guzman of her separation from service, prior to the expiry of her fixed-term appointment. UNAT was satisfied that the subject matter of the application for interim relief before UNDT was a termination decision. UNAT found that UNDT exceeded its competence in ordering the suspension of action. UNAT upheld the appeal and vacated the UNDT judgment.

Decision Contested or Judgment Appealed

Ms Guzman sought rescission of the decision to separate her from service effective 31 December 2013. She also filed a motion for interim relief, seeking an Order suspending the decision to separate her from service which was due to be implemented on 31 December 2013. After finding that the application fulfilled the requirements set forth in the relevant statutory instruments, UNDT suspended the decision to separate Ms Guzman from service, pending the substantive hearing and determination of her application on the merits.

Legal Principle(s)

Termination is a separation initiated by the Secretary-General. An appeal may be filed against a judgment of UNDT where it exceeded its jurisdiction or competence.

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

Guzman

Entity

UNAMA

Case Number(s)

2014-563

Tribunal

UNAT

Registry Location :

New York