UNDT

The Tribunal ordered the Respondent to pay to the Applicant the sum of USD10,000 for the anxiety and distress she suffered as a result of the Respondent’s failure to give full effect to sec. 15.3 in ST/AI/2002/3 which requires “maximum dispatch” in the completion of the rebuttal process.

The Tribunal held that the Administration did not have sufficient evidence of Mr. Koutang’s level of engagement in outside activities to justify a finding that he had engaged in an outside occupation or employment. Thus, there were no reasonable grounds to sustain a finding of conflict of interest. While Mr. Koutang had installed a private router in his office there was no breach of security and no willful misconduct. Mr. Koutang had no ulterior motive or malicious intent in installing the router. It was at most an error of judgment with no proven adverse effects on the Country Office. The...

Management evaluation: The Applicant requested management evaluation of each of the administrative decisions that he challenged before the Tribunal. Mediation: the Tribunal found that mediation was sought by the Respondent regarding the proposed disciplinary measure of demotion but the discussion between the Applicant and the ombudsman, went beyond the scope of the demotion. Mediation was sought within the deadline for filing the Application. The time for filling an Application starts from the date when mediation breaks down therefore the application was filed within the applicable time limits...

Management evaluation: The Tribunal can only suspend an administrative decision that is subject to an ongoing management evaluation.Cancellation of vacancy announcements are administrative decisions that have been implemented and therefore can not be subject of a suspension of action application. The Applicant had not sought management evaluation of the ongoing selection process as such the Tribunal found that it could not be subject to a suspension of action application.

The Applicant’s reassignment to ONUCI was frustrated by the force majeure, the outbreak of violence in Côte d’Ivoire and this event was beyond the control of the Administration. There were no exceptional circumstances that would have justified placing the Applicant on special leave with full pay between 1 July 2011 and 6 December 2011.The Applicant was lawfully placed on SLWOP upon the expiry of his provisional reassignment to ONUCI. The Applicant is not entitled to any relief for the delay in receiving certain written tests as a result of the disconnection of his UN webmail address. However...

Delegation of authority: Any withdrawal or limitation of the delegation of authority must be explicit. In the absence of a clear and formal revocation of the delegation by the delegating authority, the decision taken by the delegating authority is tainted by a substantial procedural flaw—that of the lack of competence of the decision-maker.Legal certainty and application of administrative issuances: ST/SGB/2009/10 does not provide for transitional measures in situations, such as the instant case, where an eligible staff member is assigned to a different department or office between the time...

Administration’s withdrawal of unlawful individual administrative decisions which created rights: Staff rule 11.2 not only permits but actually requires the Administration to revoke an administrative decision that it considers unlawful. However, the power to revoke decisions conferring rights should necessarily be exercised within the relevant time frame to respond to a request for management evaluation. Irreparable damage: Where the injury alleged is only hypothetical, it may not be regarded as “irreparable” within the meaning of article 2.2 of the Statute in the context of an application for...

Receivability of application for suspension of action pending management evaluation: It results from article 2.2 of the Tribunal’s Statute that the Tribunal is not in a position to rule on an application for suspension of action, pending management evaluation, on a decision, if copies of the decision in question or the request for management evaluation have not been submitted. Compliance with orders: A party to a proceeding has a duty to comply with an order of the Tribunal and particularly an interlocutory case management order pursuant to Article 19. To persist in disobeying such orders...

Receivability ratione materiae of application for suspension of action pending management evaluation: In order for the Tribunal to act upon an application for suspension of action submitted pursuant to article 2.2 of its Statute, an “administrative decision” must be at issue. According to the Tribunal’s case law, a challengeable administrative decision is a decision taken by the Administration which carries direct legal consequences in respect of the applicant’s rights under the terms of his or her appointment or contract of employment.

Judge Meeran handled the case since Judge Kaman issued the judgment on the last day of her tenure with the Dispute Tribunal. The Tribunal found that the only conclusion, which could sensibly have been drawn from the fact that UNDT/2011/124 did not address the claim in explicit terms was that either Judge Kaman considered it implicitly covered in the findings or alternatively she overlooked it in her final conclusions on remedies. To the extent that it may have been an oversight, on the basis of a full examination of the record and the judgments, Judge Meeran ordered that Judge Kaman had...