Judge Colgan
The Secretary-General appealed arguing that the Organization had no obligation to make all reasonable efforts to place the staff member in available suitable posts, as he only had an FTA and that such obligation was meant only for those who had continuing or permanent appointments. UNAT disagreed and found that staff members should be “retained” in an order of priority favouring, first, those with continuing appointments; second, holders of FTAs of more than two years’ duration who were recruited competitively; and third and finally, other FTA holders. In the instant case, UNAT found because...
UNAT considered an appeal of UNDT Order No. 087 by Ms Barud. UNAT dismissed her motion to admit additional documents related to the substantive issue of justification for the non-renewal of her contract, due to their lack of relevance to the matter for decision by UNAT on her application for a suspension of action. UNAT noted that there was no reason why these documents could not be used by Ms Barud for the substantive matter, which was, at that time, before UNDT. UNAT held that the appeal failed on the grounds that Ms Barud did not apply for a suspension within the statutory time limit. In...
UNAT considered an application for revision of judgment No. 2019-UNAT-914 from Mr Oglesby. UNAT held that Mr Oglesby failed to establish the required grounds for a revision of judgment, namely the discovery of a decisive fact that was, at the time the judgment was rendered, unknown to UNAT and the party applying for revision. UNAT noted that it had concluded in the impugned judgment that it was unable to apply the 缅北禁地Charter or the UDHR directly, or strike down clear UNJSPF Regulations. UNAT opined that it was within the combined powers of the UNJSPF, the Secretary-General and the General...
UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. The Secretary-General raised the argument, inter alia, that Ms Lamb’s retroactive appointment was disrupted when she resigned and separated and, therefore, she had no contractual relationship with the Organisation obliging it to place her preferentially in vacant posts as someone holding a permanent appointment. UNAT held that UNDT concluded correctly that (1) Ms Lamb’s employment ended in mid-2013 by her own initiative and (2) there was nothing in the documentation relating to Ms Lamb’s resignation to support her assertion that it was...
UNAT considered an application for revision of judgment No. 2019-UNAT-948 by Ms Bezziccheri. UNAT considered Ms Bezziccheri’s claim that ST/AI/2019/1 was unknown to her and UNAT at the time the judgment was issued. Noting the three elements that an applicant for revision must establish cumulatively before a final judgment of UNAT can be revised, UNAT held that the fact that ST/AI/2019/1 was known to UNAT when it issued its judgment (as it had been referred to therein) was sufficient in and of itself to fail the cumulative test. Further, UNAT noted that ST/AI/2019/1 was not determinative of Ms...
UNAT considered that the 1994 and 2018 requests made by the Appellant to change his date of birth were essentially the same requests. UNAT recalled that the reiteration of an original administrative decision if repeatedly questioned, does not reset the clock with respect to the statutory timeline. UNAT held that the statutory period during which the Appellant had to file a challenge to the 1994 decision expired in 1997. UNAT held that UNRWA DT did not err in dismissing the application. On consideration of the Respondent’s claim to award costs, UNAT was not satisfied that the pursuit of the...
UNAT held that all of the Appellant’s grounds of appeal failed, except for his challenge to the UNRWA decision not to renew or extend the Appellant’s limited duration contract beyond its final extension, for the simple reason that those several decisions to extend his contract advantaged him by adding, in total, six months to his contract. On the issue of the Appellant’s non-renewal or final extension, UNAT held that there was no error in UNRWA DT’s reasoning and that UNRWA was justified in deciding not to renew or extend his employment, noting that UNRWA faced a massive financial shortfall...
On the Appellant’s claim that the UNDT Judge was biased, UNAT held that the Appellant’s specific allegations were not made out and any missteps in the conduct of the hearing did not warrant interference with the result. On the Appellant’s claim that his supervisor harassed him to the extent that his actions were mitigated substantially, UNAT held that even if the Appellant established that there was a dysfunctional relationship between him and his supervisor, this could not have had the effect of mitigating his actions significantly, such were the scale and duration of his misconduct. UNAT...
UNAT held that the appeal was receivable on the basis that the Appellant was not challenging the new scheme for education grant introduced by the General Assembly, but rather the manner in which it was implemented in her specific case and the way in which the Secretary-General interpreted General Assembly Resolution 70/244. UNAT held that UNDT did not err in deciding that the Appellant did not have an acquired right to all of the previous education benefits she had enjoyed. On the question of the Appellant’s access to a discretionary consideration of her claims on exceptional grounds, UNAT...
The Secretary-General appealed the UNDT judgment as it related to the non-renewal decision only. UNAT held that a shifting onus of proof was appropriate where the non-renewal decision was based on a lack of funds. UNAT found nothing objectionable with the UNDT’s reference to the burden or onus of proof resting with the Secretary-General in the circumstances of the case. UNAT held that UNDT did not err in concluding that the Secretary-General failed to establish by evidence that the financial situation of the 缅北禁地body which had engaged Ms Loose at the time of the separation was still...
UNAT held that exceptional circumstances existed which warranted an extension of time. UNAT held that UNDT’s discretion should have been exercised in the Appellant’s favour because it affected access to justice and there is a presumption that access to justice should not be denied at the outset without compelling reasons, which were absent. UNAT held that circumstances beyond the Appellant’s control prevented him from acting to file his appeal within the time limit and it would be unjust to visit upon the Appellant the consequences of an error (a fail in the electronic filing system) for which...
UNAT held that UNRWA DT failed to address some issues before it, in respect of which the Appellant is entitled to a reasoned decision. UNAT held that UNRWA DT erred in declining the Appellant’s implicit request for a hearing in person, at least without having considered it and given reasons. UNAT held that the termination of the Appellant’s appointment could not be assessed as hasty, premature, or arbitrary, with particular reference to the Medical Board process. UNAT held that any opportunity of the Appellant’s appointment to that vacancy had therefore passed, irrespective of her...
UNAT held that UNDT was correct not to conclude that the Appellant had initiated the physical fight. UNAT held that UNDT was entitled to conclude the evidence of a witness was not clear and convincing, given inconsistencies. UNAT held that UNDT determined correctly that a prior altercation could not provide propensity evidence to corroborate witnesses’ accounts of the physical fight because the prior altercation was not investigated properly. UNAT held that UNDT committed an error in concluding that the Appellant had been unduly influenced into signing the settlement agreement, but that UNDT...
UNAT considered an application revision of judgment No. 2019-UNAT-936 by Mr Diallo. UNAT held that Mr Diallo failed to establish the statutory conditions that had to be fulfilled before a judgment could be revised, namely there was no discovery of a decisive fact which was, at the time the judgment was rendered, unknown to UNAT and to him. UNAT held that an application for revision of a judgment that does not meet the statutory prerequisites cannot be a collateral means of attack on the judgment or allowed to be the second right of final appeal. UNAT dismissed the application for revision.
UNAT considered appeals from both Mr. Sirhan and the Commissioner-General. UNAT held that UNRWA DT exceeded its competence and erred in fact and law by rescinding the decision to terminate Mr. Sirhan on medical grounds. UNAT held that the decision to convene a Medical Board more than one month after Mr. Sirhan’s service-incurred injury in order to examine his fitness for continued service with UNRWA was reasonable. UNAT held that UNRWA DT erred in law in interpreting the Area Staff Rules as requiring UNRWA to provide injured staff members adequate time for recovery before deciding to appoint a...
UNAT denied the request for an oral hearing, finding it would not assist in the expeditious and fair disposal of the case. UNAT held, recalling the Spinardi jurisprudence (judgment No. 2019-UNAT-957), that the decision on the Appellant’s complaints was not made utilizing a neutral first instance process as required jurisdictionally by Article 2. 10 of the UNAT Statute. UNAT noted that the appealed decision was made by the ICAO Secretary-General whose own earlier decision(s) the Appellant had challenged. UNAT allowed the appeal and set aside the ICAO Secretary-General’s and/or the AJAB’s...
The Applicant filed a second application for interpretation of judgment No. 2017-UNAT-774 and an application for execution of judgment No. 2018-UNAT-827. Subsequently, the Applicant requested leave to withdraw these two applications. UNAT granted leave to withdraw the applications and directed the Registrar to close the cases.
UNAT was not satisfied that the essential elements were present to enable the IMO SAB to take a decision within the meaning of Article 2(10) of the UNAT Statute. UNAT held that, even if the SAB issuance was a decision, it was only advisory or recommendatory. UNAT noted that the SAB gave advice to the Secretary-General of IMO, who could not be regarded as a neutral part of the process as he is both the employer’s representative and the original decision-maker. UNAT held that it was the Secretary-General of IMO, who was not neutral in the first instance process, who took the final decision. UNAT...
As a preliminary matter, UNAT declined the Appellants’ request for an oral hearing based on the length and complexity of the background of the appeal and that it was not persuaded that it was in the interests of justice to hold one. On the Appellants’ argument that UNAT had erred previously in establishing the criteria in permanent appointment conversion cases, UNAT noted that they were effectively requesting a revision of two previous UNAT judgments and held that they were time-barred from doing so. UNAT held that the criteria in permanent appointment conversion cases, as previously...
UNAT held that UNDT did not err that, in the circumstances of the complaints made and the importance of the Appellant’s role in a difficult duty station, the Respondent was entitled to place the Appellant on Special Leave with Pay while it investigated the allegations against him. UNAT held that UNDT ought not to have relied upon Morsy (judgment No. 2013-UNAT-298), Assale (judgment No. 2015-UNAT-534), and Sarwar (judgment No. 2017-UNAT-757) as it did. UNAT noted that in the Appellant’s case, not only was there a performance-related justification required to be established but no proper...