UNDT/2017/016, Zeb
UNAT Held or UNDT Pronouncements
Request for management evaluation: A request for management evaluation has a precise and specific meaning in the framework of the Organization’s internal justice system. It is the first step in formal contestation of an administrative decision and, as such, a mere communication conveying discontent to “management” does not amount to a formal management evaluation request. Management evaluation is a formal process involving a request to the body specifically vested with the authority to look into a contested decision, to consider whether it conformed with the applicable rules of the Organization.Rejection of an irreceivable application: The fact that an application is rejected as irreceivable for want of a management evaluation request in no manner precludes the applicant from undertaking the formal management evaluation step to the MEU, nor from filing a new application against the same decision once he/she has gone through the management evaluation process, subject to the applicable mandatory time limits.
Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed
The Applicant appealed the decision not to consider his application for a post in UNODC in Afghanistan. Although the Tribunal doubted the Applicant’s standing to institute legal proceedings—because he appeared to no longer be a staff member since the end of 2015, and his grievance did not concern his former conditions of service but a candidacy to a post advertised after the end of his service—it lacked reliable information to make a firm finding on this point. The UNDT, nonetheless, declared the application irreceivable ratione materiae since the Applicant had not previously submitted a request for management evaluation. Indeed, he had merely addressed an email to management showing discontent with the decision. Such a communication did not amount to a formal management evaluation request.
Legal Principle(s)
N/A