2019-UNAT-945

2019-UNAT-945, Peker

UNAT Held or UNDT Pronouncements

UNAT held that it was unable to undertake a proper review of the case since the audio recording of the UNDT proceedings contained the final submissions of both counsels, but not the testimony of the two witnesses and the Appellant. UNAT held that UNDT erred in rejecting the Appellant’s request for documents relating to the calculation of reasonable and customary expenses as to whether the Administration properly calculated “reasonable and customary” expenses was a central issue in contention and was addressed extensively by the UNDT in its judgment. UNAT remanded the case to UNDT for a de novo determination, including the disclosure of the requested documents, relevant materials, and any other documents relevant to the calculation of reasonable and customary expenses.

Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed

The Applicant, a locally recruited staff member serving in Turkey, incurred significant medical expenses after being hospitalised on an emergency basis whilst on annual leave in Switzerland. UNHCR paid for those expenses and later informed the Applicant they would recover the difference between the cost of such treatment in Turkey and Switzerland from the Applicant, a decision challenged by the Applicant. UNDT dismissed the application. UNDT indicated that the conditions for reimbursement and the extent of coverage were governed by the UN Medical Insurance Plan (MIP) Rules, which the UNDT had accurately applied. UNDT held that the Administration was correct not to apply the stop-loss provision because it would have removed the limitation of the coverage to those reasonable and customary expenses incurred at the duty station and instead would have expanded the coverage worldwide, which was contrary to the terms of the MIP Rules. UNDT further rejected the Applicant’s argument that UNHCR had an obligation to reimburse him on account of an attestation he had received from human resources in UNHCR’s Ankara office to facilitate a visa for private travel as the said attestation had no legal authority to derogate from the MIP rules. The Applicant was also requesting disclosure of several documentation in which one of them included the document relevant to the calculation of “reasonable and customary expenses”. UNDT denied the Applicant’s motion on the grounds that the documents were not relevant.

Legal Principle(s)

An incomplete audio recording of the oral hearing before UNDT may prevent UNAT from undertaking a proper review of a case.

Outcome

Appeal granted

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The judgment summaries were generally prepared in English. They were translated into French and are being reviewed for accuracy of the translation.

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