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UNDT/2021/160

UNDT/2021/160, Bassey

UNAT Held or UNDT Pronouncements

The Tribunal concluded that the Applicant had not established that there was any bias or impropriety which had any impact on the decision not to renew his appointment. The Tribunal further held that the Applicant had not provided any information which would assist in production of relevant information and the Tribunal did not have the jurisdiction to embark upon a full investigation of the matter and could only rely on what had been made available pursuant to its case management powers. Accordingly, the application was rejected.

Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed

The Applicant contested MONUSCO’s decision to not renew his appointment beyond 30 June 2020.

Legal Principle(s)

Pursuant to staff regulation 4.5, a fixed-term appointment does not carry an expectancy of renewal. However, according to the Tribunal’s jusrisprudence, discretionary decisions regarding renewal of appointments are subject to evaluation of reasonableness, lack of arbitrariness or improper purpose. Further, pursuant to the established jurisprudence, when the Tribunal is reviewing administrative decisions, there is a presumption of regularity. This presumption is satisfied where the Administration minimally shows that the staff member was given fair and adequate consideration. Once this requirement is satisfied by the Administration, the burden shifts to the applicant to show through clear and convincing evidence that in dealing with him/her, the Administration failed to give his/her case fair and adequate consideration.

Outcome

Dismissed on merits

Outcome Extra Text

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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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