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UNDT/2010/097

UNDT/2010/097, Lutta

UNAT Held or UNDT Pronouncements

Article 10(5) of the Statute of the UNDT is silent as to how compensation to be awarded to a party is to be calculated. The Respondent submits that in such circumstances where there is a lacuna in the internal law of the organization, general principles of law provide a source of internal administrative law and should be applied. The Tribunal agrees with this reasoning and further notes that how this Article will be applied will depend on the particular circumstances of each case. The recognized heads of damage are: actual pecuniary loss; damages for procedural error and moral damages. An additional head of damage is contained in Article 10(6) of the UNDT Statute, that is, an award of costs where a party has manifestly abused the proceedings before the Tribunal. The Tribunal does not consider this list to be exhaustive. The Applicant is entitled to compensation for the loss of chance for being barred from applying for the two posts as a result of the failures by the Respondent in relation to his case, however, the Tribunal will not speculate as to whether or not the Applicant would have been selected for the said posts. Moral damages are assessed in a rather arbitrary manner in many national jurisdictions. The international Tribunals have fallen back on equity to assess damages.

Decision Contested or Judgment Appealed

The Applicant challenged his treatment by the Administration surrounding him being charged with misconduct and sought compensation for the harm caused. The facts giving rise to the application before the Tribunal are contained in UNDT Judgment No. 052 (2010). In the said Judgment, having found in favor of the Applicant, the Tribunal directed the parties to provide written submissions as to the appropriate relief that should be ordered by or before close of business Friday, 9 April 2010, which date was subsequently extended to Friday 16 April 2010.

Legal Principle(s)

N/A

Outcome
Judgment entered for Applicant in full or in part
Outcome Extra Text

The Respondent is ordered to pay the Applicant: three months’ net base salary as compensation for the loss of chance for being barred for consideration for the two posts with interest at 8% beginning 90 days from the date of issuance of this Judgment until payment is effected; US$ 4,760 as compensation for his travel costs for the period 20 November 2007 to 2 May 2009 with interest at 8% beginning 90 days from the date of issuance of this Judgment until payment is effected; six months’ net base salary as compensation for moral damages with interest at 8% beginning 90 days from the date of issuance of this Judgment until payment is effected; and rejects all other pleas.

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.

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