UNHCR

The UNAT noted that the impugned Orders denying the staff member’s requests for anonymity had been issued less than a month after the UNDT had granted his motion for anonymity in another case.

The UNAT found that the impugned Orders did not exist in isolation and the interaction of all these proceedings rendered the situation exceptional. The UNAT held that denying him anonymity for his two applications alone would defeat the purpose of anonymity and, in the unique circumstances of these proceedings, this inconsistency was prejudicial to the integrity of the internal justice system. The UNAT...

The UNAT noted that the staff member had a medical condition requiring attention which impacted his ability to return to work, and he had consented to the Independent Medical Examination and had not challenged those records before the UNDT nor on appeal.

The UNAT held that even if ST/AI/2019/1 were applicable to UNHCR staff members or taken as a model of just practice, it would not have rendered the Independent Medical Examination improper.

The UNAT found no basis to overturn the UNDT’s determination that there had been no evidence of bias or conflict of interest in either the medical...

The Respondent argued that the discontinuation of the Applicant’s position was distinct from the non-renewal of his position. The Tribunal rejected this argument. The Tribunal found that the decision-maker linked the discontinuation of the Applicant's post with the non-renewal. The Tribunal held that the discontinuation and non-renewal were inextricably interrelated and therefore the application was receivable. The Respondent’s argument that the claim was not receivable ratione temporis was rejected.

The Respondent’s distinction, while perhaps academically correct, would make receivability no...

Beyond mere expressions of surprise, the Applicant presented no argument contesting either the law or facts of the Respondent’s response to his request for production of evidence.

The Tribunal found that the requested evidence was irrelevant.

The Tribunal acknowledged the legitimate security issues implicated in the request, especially in light of the Applicant’s bald claim that an unidentified expert required these documents to develop or support an undisclosed opinion.

The broad request for security log books monitoring staff movements at the compound did not seem to be relevant to the fair...

In the present case, according to the Applicant’s own submissions, he was not in a situation of “an absolute impossibility” of filing a timely waiver as per Karki. Instead, while apparently being aware of expiry of the deadline, he continued to work intensely on preparing the application, and rather than giving priority to filing it in time, he instead wanted it “to be perfect”. When then filing the application, the Applicant, however, made no reference to it being filed too late or indicating that he requested a waiver of the 90-day deadline under art. 8.3 of the Statute. He only requested a...

The applicable rule stipulates that an application for interim measures during the proceedings must not concern appointment, promotion or termination. As this was clearly a case where the motion for interim measures concerned appointment, the temporary relief set out in art.14 was unavailable to the Applicant.

Accordingly, the motion for interim measures during the proceedings was rejected.

In any case, the Tribunal noted that the contested decision had already been implemented as the Applicant had been separated from UNHCR.

As the Applicant filed the application before the Dispute Tribunal almost two months after the decision to include his name in the ClearCheck database was implemented, the application for suspension of action was therefore not receivable.

Having established that the Applicant was duly notified of the contested decision on 22 May 2023, the Tribunal found that the request for management evaluation should have been filed by 22 July 2023, at the latest. Since the Applicant only filed the request for management evaluation on 23 November 2023, the Tribunal further found that the application was not receivable.

As Counsel for the Applicant admitted that the Administration had already substantially settled the Applicant’s tax liability claims for 2022 and 2023, the Tribunal also considered those aspects of the application as moot.

The...

the Tribunal rules in favour of the Applicant, concluding that she acted in good faith in her efforts to secure her son’s medical treatment and in the subsequent submission of medical invoices for reimbursement.

The Tribunal finds that the contested decision terminating the Applicant’s employment, was, therefore, unlawful.

A witness investigator's act of following the testimony of a Respondent witness while she was testifying contravened the ethical and procedural standards expected of a witness by decision to disregard this fundamental procedural rule not only demonstrates a potential bias but...

The Rules of Procedure of the Appeals Tribunal (which were also approved by the General Assembly), expressly provide that “published judgements will normally include the names of the parties.” Even if names were within the ambit of “personal data”, it appears clear that this Tribunal must balance the need for accountability with the need to protect personal data according to the circumstances of each case. In so doing, it is the general practice of this judge to avoid using names, other than the parties, to protect the anonymity of innocent persons somehow involved in the case. As a victim of...