UNDT/2020/160, Krioutchkov
UNAT Held or UNDT Pronouncements
According to section 9.4 of the staff selection system, a Hiring Manager may lawfully select from a pool of pre-screened candidates without further assessment or referral to a central review body. However, in the case at hand, the Hiring Manager decided to establish a Panel of three senior language professionals to conduct informal interviews with the pre-selected candidates, including the Applicant. There is no provision in the Staff Rules preventing these interviews from being held in Russian. The Applicant further contends that he was discriminated since he has been serving in a Regional Commission which is not part of the DGACM. However, the Applicant has not provided any evidence of said discrimination. Finally, the Applicant complains about the loss of concrete chances for career development, due to limited or no mobility within the UN translators’ professional group, notwithstanding his long-lasting placement on a roster of eligible candidates and the obligation for the Administration (as per some General Assembly resolutions) to reward staff members’ excellent performance. The Tribunal finds that these claims are not relevant for the adjudication of the present case, where the Applicant challenges, and is entitled only to challenge, a specific administrative decision (which in the case at hand was lawful) and not a general administrative practice as alleged. In any case, the facts recalled by the Applicant do not create any expectancy or entitlement to promotion. In light of the entirety of the evidence and considering the parties’ arguments, the Tribunal is satisfied that the Applicant’s candidacy was given full and fair consideration. Moreover, the Tribunal does not find that the Applicant has proved by clear and convincing evidence any ulterior motive in his non-selection.
Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed
The Applicant contests the decision not to select him for a position of Russian translator, at the P-4 level, at the United Nations Office in Vienna.
Legal Principle(s)
The Appeals Tribunal has adopted the principle of regularity by which if the Respondent is able “to even minimally show that [an applicant’s] candidature was given a full and fair consideration, then the presumption of law stands satisfied”. Thereafter, the applicant “must show through clear and convincing evidence that [s/he] was denied a fair chance of promotion” to rebut this presumption (Lemonnier 2017-UNAT-762, para. 32). In the context of selection and recruitment exercises the Tribunal has to assess: i) if the procedure followed the pre-established rules and regulations and ii) if the Applicant was given full and fair consideration.