UNDT

The proposed competitive process was necessitated by the ending of funding for the Capital Master Plan (“CMP”), a large-scale long-term renovation of the United Nations Headquarters Complex in New York. According to the Respondent, the Applicants’ posts are funded through CMP; the Applicants dispute this. The main issue in this case is whether the contested decision to subject the Applicants to the ad hoc competitive process test is lawful. The Tribunal found that the ad hoc competitive process announced in April 2012 was unlawful and ordered rescission of the decision to carry it out.

Particular urgency: The requirement of particular urgency will not be satisfied if the urgency was created or caused by the applicant.

The UNDT found that the Applicant had made out a case for prima facie unlawfulness, but that the other two requirements for suspension of action – urgency and irreparable harm - were not fulfilled. It considered that the selection decision had already been implemented pursuant to Section 10.2 of ST/AI/2010/3 and therefore the Tribunal had no jurisdiction to provide interim injunctive relief. The Tribunal observed the irregularity whereby a non-selected candidate cannot have known that the decision has been implemented and is powerless under Article 2.2 of the Statute to suspend the action...

Receivability – Outcome of management evaluation: Except in the case foreseen in article 8.1(d)(i)b of the Tribunal’s Statute, Applicants have to await the outcome of the management evaluation process before filing an application with the Tribunal.

The inherent jurisdiction of the Tribunal confers it with power to deal with contemptuous conduct and is necessary to safeguard its judicial functions. This power need not be defined in the Tribunal’s Statute or in its Rules of Procedure. Willful disobedience of the Tribunal’s orders is contempt and is a direct attack upon the jurisdiction of the Tribunal and its power to undertake the responsibilities with which it has been entrusted in its Statute by the General Assembly. UNON management while disregarding the authority of UNAT in Villamoran on the duty of parties to comply with...

Obligation to consult the staff member affected by a decision to discontinue his/her post: In view of the importance, for the staff member concerned, of the decision to discontinue his/her post, the Tribunal strictly interprets the procedural obligation to consult the affected staff member.

Compensation: For an administrative decision to give rise to compensation, the Tribunal must first determine that such decision is unlawful. Right to work: Staff members not only have a duty but also a right to do the work for which they have been recruited.

Renewal of fixed-term appointments: A decision to extend the fixed-term appointment of a staff member for a short period of time contains in fact two decisions, on the hand a decision to extend, on the other, a decision to set a date beyond which the staff member’s appointment will not be extended. Receivability of application against a renewal decision: It follows from staff rule 4.13(c) that when the fixed-term appointment of a staff member expires, that staff member has no right to renewal. Accordingly, a decision to extend a fixed-term appointment, even for a short period of time, is not a...

Receivability/Waive or suspend MEU deadlines: It has been established in the UNDT and the United Nations Appeals Tribunal (UNAT) jurisprudence as well in the provisions of the UNDT Statute that the UNDT does not have the power to suspend or waive deadlines regardingtime limits for management evaluation. The Tribunal, being a creature of statutory law, cannot go beyond its mandate.If there was concrete evidence to show that the Ombudsman was seized of the matter within the stipulated time limits and if there was evidence showing the date on which the Ombudsman acknowledged receipt of the matter...

t. The applicant submits that her request for suspension of action is timely as the contested administrative decision has yet to be implemented. Legal Pronouncement: The decision to select a successful candidate is implemented upon the candidate’s unconditional acceptance of the offer presented to him which results in the formation of a binding employment contract between the candidate and the Organization. The formation of the employment contract, which results in the implementation of the post selection decision, will precede the date on which a successful candidate will assume his/her new...