Arbitrary or improper motive

Scope of judicial review concerning post abolition: it is not for the Tribunal to substitute its own views to that of the Secretary-General on how to organize work and meet operational needs. The Tribunal may only examine and set aside decisions on very limited grounds, where there has been a finding of a breach of the administrative law considerations surrounding a decision.Improper motive: an Applicant has the burden of proof when seeking to demonstrate any improper motive.Comparative Review Policy for Locally Recruited Staff Members – paragraph 4: in the context of an exercise to abolish a...

Non-renewal: A non-renewal decision can be based on a mere reduction of work, based on a workload prognosis—made at the time of the decision. This can lead to a situation where a regular budget post remains vacant without actually being abolished. There is no legal obligation for the Administration to renew a staff member’s FTA based solely on the fact that the respective post is funded. On the contrary, it may be in the best interest of the Organization to save money instead of using available resources at all cost. In assessing future workload, the Administration necessarily has to make some...

Non-renewal: A non-renewal decision can be taken on the basis of a projected reduction of workload; in assessing future workload, the Administration necessarily has to make some prognosis, on the basis of the elements available at the time of the contested decision. Factual developments relating to the future workload after the date of the decision have to remain out of consideration, and do not have an impact on the legality of the decision under review. Extraneous factors: The burden of proof with respect to extraneous considerations falls on the Applicant. Ultra vires: A non-renewal...

There is no evidence on the record that the mandatory procedure established in secs. 9, 10, 15 and 16 of ST/AI/400 for separation by abandonment of post was followed in the Applicant’s case. The Administration did not act fairly and transparently with the Applicant. DSS lead the Applicant to believe that it was still considering granting him a SLWOP, while, at the same time, it recommended the non-extension of his fixed-term appointment due to his unauthorized absence on the other. That the non-renewal decision following the expiration of the Applicant’s contract, constitutes a separation...

UNDT held that the Settlement Agreement was properly before UNDT for its enforcement. UNDT noted that there was no special procedure prescribed by the UNDT Statute or Rules of Procedure or even by any of its Practice Directions for an applicant to bring an application for the enforcement of a Settlement Agreement. UNDT held that there was bad faith on part of the Respondent in regard to the Settlement Agreement by the non-renewal of the Applicant’s contract. UNDT found that: a. The MONUSCO Administration exhibited bad faith during the negotiations by not informing the Applicant until after he...

it is undisputed that the Administration did not afford the Applicant written notice so he learnt about the non-renewal only upon the expiration of his fixed-term appointment. This practice, however, does not disable the right to seek review of the non-renewal decision by the UNDT. The Tribunal considers that the objective factual element as to the non-renewal of the Applicant’s appointment consists in the memorandum instructing the Applicant to commence his separation procedure, dated 4 January and delivered to the Applicant on 11 January 2016. Recalling that the Applicant sought information...

Whether the non-renewal decision is supported by the facts Although, as the Applicant’s advanced, there was no documentary evidence explicitly showing that funding for the Pacific Project was to end in June 2017, other than the Respondent’s assertion that the Pacific Project received no funding beyond 30 June 2017, the Tribunal found that there were enough elements that taken together supported the budgetary reason behind the non-renewal of the Applicant’s appointment. The Tribunal noted, inter alia, that the Applicant and other ITC Officials were fully aware in February 2017 that the Donor...

No evidence showed a link between the Applicant having expressed divergent views on a work-related matter and the decision not to renew her fixed-term appointment. The decision not to extend the fixed-term appointment was based on operational requirements and followed the Security Council’s decision to withdraw MINUJUSTH. The Applicant had no expectation of renewal of her fixed-term appointment. No evidence showed that MINJUSTH made a written promise to extend the Applicant’s fixed-term appointment. There is no legal provision directing the Administration to find placement for staff members at...

The Applicant’s performance appraisal was fair and supported by the facts in evidence. The Administration was justified in deciding not to extend the Applicant’s temporary appointment for poor performance. There was no justification to extend the Applicant’s appointment beyond the maximum 364 days. The Applicant filed a complaint of harassment after she had received the request for management evaluation. She was therefore not able to show a link between her complaint and the decision not to renew her appointment given that the decision occurred months before the filing of the complaint. There...

The Applicant’s appointment was not renewed due to her own requests to leave prior to the end of her four-year rotation in that position. The record shows that the Applicant was well aware of the reasons for the non-renewal of her position and would have understood the contents of the notification letter related directly to her requests to Director and Deputy Director to leave her position. The record clearly demonstrates that the Applicant’s post was advertised due to her request to leave UNDP Guyana prior to the end of her four-year rotation. The Applicant cites no impropriety in the...