Juge Adinyira
UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT held that there was no reason to reverse the finding of UNDT that a legitimate expectation of a one-year extension was unequivocally created by virtue of the decision taken at the Core Management Group meeting. UNAT affirmed the UNDT decision that Mr Munir had a legitimate expectation and the decision of the Resident Representative not to seek a one-year renewal of his contract was an unlawful exercise of discretion. UNAT held that the Secretary-General failed to demonstrate that the compensation was unreasonable because there was a...
UNAT held that there was no reason to depart from its prior analysis that the UNJSPF was not part of the Secretariat and neither the Secretary-General nor the executive head of any other member organisation, has authority over the management of UNJSPF or the independence of the Chief Executive Officer of UNJSPF in the administration of its staff. UNAT held that the Secretary-General had no power to interfere or intervene in the election of members to the UNJSPF’s staff pension committees; those elections were governed exclusively by UNJSPF Regulations. UNAT held that there was no error in UNDT...
UNAT considered two appeals by the Secretary-General against three judgments (judgment Nos. UNDT/2013/028, UNDT/2013/029 and UNDT/2013/076). UNAT held that, generally speaking, appeals against a decision to initiate an investigation are not receivable as such a decision is preliminary in nature and does not, at that stage, affect the legal rights of the staff member. UNAT held that initiating an investigation is merely a step in the investigative process and it is not an administrative decision that UNDT is competent to review. UNAT held that UNDT erred on a question of law and exceeded its...
UNAT considered both an appeal by the Secretary-General and a cross-appeal by Mr Nwuke. UNAT held that ST/AI/2003/8 was inapplicable. UNAT held that the relevant administrative instruction was ST/AI/2010/3, which integrated the recruitment, placement, promotion and mobility of staff within the Secretariat. UNAT held that, in its view, the authority to make lateral transfers to fill job openings at the same level extended to both immediate and anticipated job openings, including posts that would become vacant due to retirement. UNAT held that the impugned decision complied with the legal...
UNAT considered two applications, one for correction and one for revision, relating to judgment No. 2013-UNAT-363. UNAT held that Mr Chaaban failed to show any clerical or arithmetical mistake to justify the correction of the judgment. UNAT held that Mr Chaaban failed to identify any decisive fact unknown at the time of the judgment to warrant its revision. UNAT dismissed both applications.
UNAT held that the JAB did not err in limiting the scope of the Appellant’s application to the written reprimand, as the various other allegations raised were not the subject of a request for administrative review, and were therefore not receivable, and UNAT dismissed those grounds of appeal. UNAT held that the Appellant failed to establish any errors of fact that resulted in a manifestly unreasonable decision on the part of the JAB and dismissed that ground of appeal. UNAT held that the Appellant’s submission that the JAB may have been unduly influenced by the presence of the Registrar’s...
UNAT considered Mrs Sidell’s two Applications, one for correction and the other for interpretation of the judgment. With respect to the Application for correction, UNAT held that there were no clerical or arithmetical mistakes in the relevant paragraphs and that Mrs Sidell merely disagreed with the referenced portions of the judgment. With respect to the Application for interpretation, UNAT held that the referenced paragraphs were clear in meaning on the face of the record and did not need any interpretation. UNAT denied both Applications.
UNAT considered the Secretary-General’s appeal. UNAT held that UNDT erred by concluding that ST/AI/2002/3 applied to UNICEF, as the UNICEF Handbook establishes the procedure that a staff member must follow should they wish to rebut the content of their performance report. UNAT noted that the principle articulated in Villamoran v. Secretary-General of the United Nations (2011-UNAT-160), which holds that administrative issuances have greater legal authority over manuals such as the UNICEF Handbook, only where there is a conflict between guidelines and manuals and a properly promulgated...
UNAT preliminarily dismissed the Appellant’s Application for Confidentiality and then considered the merits of the Appeal, which contained three grounds. With respect to the first ground, UNAT held that UNDT did not err in concluding that due process was satisfied if the staff member could comment on anonymous witness statements providing evidence against him. UNAT noted that the reasons for withholding the identities of the victims and for not producing them at trial were contained in the OIOS Investigation Report that was sent to the Appellant, thus the conditions for the admissibility for...
As a preliminary matter, UNAT dismissed the Appellant’s motion “for a finding of the Respondent’s dissembling. ” With respect to the substance of the appeal, UNAT held that, regardless of the nature of the new fact discovered by an applicant, timeliness of the filing of an application for revision is essential. UNAT dismissed the appeal and affirmed the UNDT judgment.
UNAT considered the Secretary-General’s appeal and Mr Goodwin’s cross-appeal. UNAT rejected the Secretary-General’s submission that UNDT erred by awarding excessive compensation to Mr Goodwin. UNAT relied on Larkin (judgment No. 2011-UNAT-134) on the UNDT’s discretion to determine the amount of damages. Noting the long period before Mr Goodwin before returning to full service and that the amount of compensation awarded was based on the JAB’s recommendation, UNAT found that compensation in the amount of two years’ net base salary was reasonable. In considering whether UNDT erred in concluding...
UNAT considered the Commissioner-General’s appeal, which alleged that UNRWA DT erred in finding that the UNRWA Administration’s decision not to inform Mr Hamayel that his post would not be held for him during his second year of Special Leave Without Pay (SLWOP) was arbitrary and unreasonable, thereby vitiating the decision to transfer Mr Hamayel, and by awarding moral damages. UNAT found that it was both logical and reasonable to expect the UNRWA Administration to inform Mr Hamayel that taking a second year of SLWOP would cause him to lose his post. UNAT noted that, even though Mr Hamayel had...
UNAT considered the Secretary-General's appeal of judgment on Receivability No. UNDT/2013/061 and of judgment on the Merits No. UNDT/2013/101. UNAT held that the appeal of the judgment on Receivability was timely. UNAT found that UNDT erred in finding that Mr Ngokeng’s satisfactory appraisal constituted an appealable administrative decision, as there was no evidence of any adverse administrative decision stemming from Mr Ngokeng’s performance appraisal. UNAT specifically noted that the First Reporting Officer’s comment on Mr Ngokeng’s output did not detract from the overall satisfactory...
UNAT considered Mr Wang’s appeal, specifically as to whether UNDT correctly concluded that the selected candidate, Ms C. Y., fulfilled the requirements for the post and whether UNDT correctly concluded that Mr Wang was accorded full and fair consideration in the selection process for the post. UNAT was satisfied that the evidence before UNDT supported the Administration’s decision to select Ms C. Y. for the post. UNAT found that there was sufficient evidence that Ms C. Y. had the requisite word count translation requirement and that the Administration gave her proportionate credit for her...
UNAT considered the Secretary-General’s appeal regarding whether UNDT erred in ordering both an extension of Mr Sannoh’s appointment and payment of a termination indemnity. UNAT noted that UNMIS Information Circular No. 334 provided that staff with fixed-term appointments that are due to expire shortly will have their appointments extended for one year and, should a staff member’s function no longer be required by the mission prior to the expiration of their fixed-term appointment, a termination indemnity may be payable in accordance with Staff Regulation 9. 3 and Annex III of the Staff Rules...
UNAT held that UNDT correctly concluded that the Appellant’s claim was not receivable. UNAT noted that it was evident that the Appellant knew of the process of management evaluation at the time of the impugned administrative decision. UNAT also held that UNDT correctly exercised its discretion to award costs against the Appellant for abuse of the judicial process, as her failure to apply for management evaluation was deliberate and thus her application was frivolous and vexatious. UNAT dismissed the appeal in its entirety and affirmed the UNDT judgment.
UNAT considered the appeal and allowed it in part. UNAT held that the Appellant’s claim that the AJAB found a series of violations of her rights as a staff member, but had not awarded commensurate compensation, had merit. UNAT held that the IACO breaches identified by the AJAB were fundamental in nature, (i. e. The treating of a temporary assignment as permanent, discrimination of the staff member, failure to make good faith efforts to find alternative positions, and refusing to provide access to personnel and confidential files) and the breach itself gave rise to an award of moral damages by...
Regarding the non-selection for the Programme Budget Officer post, UNAT held that the Appellant had failed to produce sufficient evidence to prove the impropriety in the decision making. UNAT held that the Appellant had also failed to put forward any specific evidence substantiating her claim of discrimination, bias, and retaliation to warrant a reversal of the UNDT’s findings. Regarding the cancellation of the Administrative Officer post, UNAT held that the Administration had provided sufficient evidence to show that the cancellation of the post was based on Organisational and budgetary...
UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT held that, at the time UNICEF sought to make the correction from termination to non-renewal, the staff member was already separated from service, and it was, therefore, too late to reverse the decision. UNAT affirmed UNDT’s finding that the staff member’s separation from service was termination on grounds of alleged unsatisfactory performance and that the Administration’s decision to reverse the decision was untimely and ineffective. UNAT held that there was no reason to reverse UNDT’s finding that the staff member had been deprived of a...
UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT affirmed UNDT’s decision that the 60 days’ deadline for the staff member to request management evaluation started from 18 March 2011, the date of the impugned decision. UNAT held that the application was, therefore, receivable pursuant to Staff Rule 11. 2(c). UNAT held that UNDT’s finding, that the repeated renewal of appointment and penultimate renewal without a break-in-service with the same conditions of service gave Mr. Igbinedion a legitimate expectation of renewal, was per incuriam and contravened clear and consistent jurisprudence...