2022-UNAT-1247, Rania Mohammed Dajani
UNAT held that the Appellant’s claim, that a final decision on her 2013 request for post reclassification was only issued in 2019, could not be considered as it was raised for the first time at the appellate level. UNAT held that UNRWA DT correctly found that the 12 December 2014 e-mail which informed her that all classifications were on hold constituted an administrative decision because it rejected her request for immediate reclassification. UNAT held that to allow the Appellant’s argument that the postponement or freezing of requests for reclassification does not constitute an administrative decision because it lacks finality would worsen the legal position of staff members as they could not challenge such postponement actions before the Tribunals. UNAT also held that, even if the postponement of a request for reclassification was not an administrative decision, the Appellant’s application was still irreceivable. UNAT dismissed the appeal and confirmed the UNRWA DT Judgment.
The Appellant contested the decision to put the reclassification of her post on hold. UNRWA DT dismissed the application as not receivable ratione materiae as the Appellant had not submitted her request for decision review within the time-limit.
Issues which were not raised before the first instance tribunal cannot be introduced for the first time on appeal.