2011-UNAT-103, Abboud

UNAT Held or UNDT Pronouncements

UNAT held that UNDT has the power to, as it did, refer a matter to the Secretary-General for investigation under Article 10(8) of the UNDT Statute. UNAT dismissed the appeal and held that all language in the UNDT judgment was obiter dictum or surplusage, except for the order itself, which UNAT affirmed in its entirety.

Accountability Referral: The UNAT affirmed the UNDT referral for possible action to enforce accountability.

Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed

judgment No. UNDT/2010/030 referred to the failure of the Under-Secretary-General to conduct the preliminary investigation and his conduct before UNDT to the Secretary-General for investigation.

Legal Principle(s)

Language not necessary or relevant to the actual decision of a trial court may be disregarded as obiter dictum or surplusage.

Outcome

Appeal dismissed on merits

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.

Full judgment

Applicants/Appellants

Abboud

Entity

UN Secretariat

Case Number(s)

2010-074

Tribunal

UNAT

Registry

New York

Date of Judgement

11 Mar 2011

President Judge

Judge Painter

Language of Judgment

English

Issuance Type

Judgment

Categories/Subcategories

Referral for accountability

Applicable Law

UNDT Statute

UNRWA DT Statute

Article 10.8