2013-UNAT-326, Jibara

UNAT Held or UNDT Pronouncements

UNAT considered an appeal by the Commissioner-General and a cross-appeal by Mr Jibara. UNAT held that UNRWA DT lacked jurisdiction to decide on the scope of the Oslo Accords signed by Israel and the Palestinian National Authority or the legality of the detention and imprisonment. UNAT recalled that it was not the role of UNDT to substitute its own decision for that of the Administration. UNAT recalled that, having established misconduct and the seriousness of the incident, UNAT cannot review the level of a sanction imposed except in cases of obvious absurdity or flagrant arbitrariness. UNAT upheld the appeal and vacated the UNRWA DT judgment.

Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed

UNRWA DT judgment: The Applicant contested the termination of his contract with UNRWA after his conviction and imprisonment for weapons possession. UNRWA DT found for the Applicant, setting aside the decision to terminate his service and ordered his reinstatement or, as an alternative, compensation in the amount equivalent to two years’ net base salary.

Legal Principle(s)

It is not the role of UNDT to substitute its own decision for that of the Administration. Having established misconduct and the seriousness of an incident, UNAT cannot review the level of sanction imposed except in cases of obvious absurdity or flagrant arbitrariness.

Outcome

Appeal granted

Outcome Extra Text

No relief ordered; No relief ordered.

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.

Applicants/Appellants

Jibara

Entity

UNRWA

Case Number(s)

2012-355

Tribunal

UNAT

Registry

New York

Date of Judgement