Judgment

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT held that UNDT was correct to find that there was no breach of Mr Powell’s due process rights at the preliminary investigation stage. UNAT held that UNDT manifestly erred in fact and in law by finding that the investigations conducted by the Board of Inquiry (BOI) and the Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) Team were final investigations and by then attaching due process rights that were pertinent only after the initiation of disciplinary proceedings. UNAT allowed the appeal, set aside the UNDT findings in paragraphs 86 and 106 of the...

UNAT considered that: the Appellant had responded in the negative to two questions about his experience in the pre-screening questions, but that he was long-listed; UNDT had decided that the hiring manager did not commit a procedural error in not evaluating all candidates, but took into consideration the objective criteria i. e. the years of experience required; the Administration was in a position to justify its decisions as not arbitrary; and the Appellant failed to meet his burden of proving the alleged discrimination. UNAT held that the appeal expressed disagreement with the impugned...

On the Appellant’s argument that the selected candidate was ineligible for consideration or selection on the basis that his tenure on the roster had expired (as per former administrative instruction ST/AI/2006/3/Rev. 1) and in the absence of specific guidelines, UNAT took note of the human resources practice of recognising as eligible all rostered candidates whose names were on the roster on the date of the opening of the vacancy announcement for the post. UNAT held that UNDT properly concluded that, given the existence of this practice, the successful candidate’s eligibility was covered by...

UNAT noted that the Appellant merely repeated arguments submitted before UNDT and recalled that an appellant has the burden of satisfying UNAT that the UNDT judgment was defective and must state the grounds upon which he or she relies, and that merely stating disagreement or repeating previous arguments was insufficient. UNAT held that Secretary-General’s reports and memoranda lacked the legal authority vested in properly promulgated administrative issuances. UNAT noted the relevant administrative instruction on the staff selection process (ST/AI/2010/3) was silent on the requirement for...

UNAT held that the grounds for appeal were not substantiated. UNAT held that the alleged delay in the disposal of the case at the lower level did not have any impact on the outcome of the case and was partially tolerated by the Appellant. On the merits, UNAT upheld the UNDT’s reasonable decision to accept the opinions of the attending doctor at the hospital and the UNIFIL Chief Medical Officer concerning the approximate time of Mr McKay’s death being some hours prior to Mr McKay arriving at the hospital. UNAT held that it was correct to conclude, as UNDT did, that, regardless of any deficiency...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT held that UNDT erred in law and exceeded its competence by awarding compensation for distress without a previous claim for damages. UNAT noted that Mr Debebe’s claim before the Joint Appeals Board (JAB) had been limited to material or pecuniary damages related solely to remuneration. UNAT held that UNDT did not have jurisdiction to award compensation for moral damage. UNAT allowed the appeal and vacated the UNDT judgment to the extent that it awarded compensation for moral damages.

As a preliminary issue, UNAT held that UNRWA DT did not follow the proper procedure when it allowed the Respondent to participate in the proceedings without a formal request for waiver of time limit for filing its answer and taking part in the trial. UNAT held that another significant irregularity took place during the proceedings before UNRWA DT, in light of which UNAT was compelled to annul the judgment and remand the case for a de novo consideration by a different UNRWA DT Judge, namely that UNRWA DT committed an error in procedure when it denied the Appellant’s request for a copy of the...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT held that there was no nexus between the emotional distress of preparing for the exam and the impugned decision as the preparation took place prior to the decision. UNAT held that UNDT’s finding that the contradictory information received by Ms Mirkovic and the lack of responses from the Chief of the Examinations and Tests Section added to her stress and injury was not supported by the facts, noting that written confirmation of what the Chief had told her was not required in order for her to request management evaluation. UNAT held that...

UNAT considered two appeals by Ms Perelli, against judgment Nos. UNDT/2012/034 and UNDT/2012/100. On the matter of due process, given Ms Perelli had the opportunity to rebut allegations and contents of the relevant report, UNAT held that these procedural steps were part of her due process entitlements and, to the extent that UNDT found the Administration to have respected these procedural steps, UNAT upheld the finding of UNDT. UNAT held that the Investigation Panel report satisfied neither the remit given to it nor the statutory requirements of ST/AI/371. UNAT held that Ms Perelli was...

UNAT held that it was a procedural error to allow the Commissioner-General to participate in the proceedings and to file a late reply without a written order, but that the Appellant was not prejudiced by that error and the error did not violate his due process rights. UNAT held that the Appellant’s failure to object to the Respondent’s late reply before UNRWA DT did not prevent him from raising on appeal the question of procedural error. On the Appellant’s claim that UNRWA DT erred when it did not permit him to file a rejoinder to the Respondent’s reply, UNAT held that since the Appellant did...