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The UNAT expressed serious concern about the lack of a sufficient record of reasons supporting the choice of the selected candidate over the staff member at the time of the contested decision.

The UNAT found that gender and geographical considerations were unevenly applied in the selection exercise, positively assessing the British male while ignoring or discounting that the staff member was an Indian female. Contrary to Staff Regulation 4.4, in which the fullest regard should be given to internal candidates, the UNAT found that her UN experience was used to disadvantage her. The UNAT also...

The UNAT rejected Mr. Salon’s argument that the prior UNAT Judgment made incorrect findings of fact regarding the dates that he made requests for management evaluation or filed complaints. The UNAT held that Mr. Salon was not seeking clarification of the UNAT Judgment but was rather attempting to relitigate his case, which is not an appropriate use of the UNAT Statute’s provisions for an application for interpretation.

The UNAT found that there was no ambiguity in its Judgment and there was no basis for the application for interpretation. The meaning and scope of the UNAT Judgment was clear...

The UNAT held that the UNRWA DT did not err in finding that there was clear and convincing evidence to support that the applicant had engaged in abuse of authority by intimidating a staff member to file a false complaint of sexual harassment against another staff member. The UNRWA DT weighed the conflicting testimonies and assessed the credibility of the witnesses and found that she had a motive to solicit the false complaint.

The UNAT held that the UNRWA DT did not err in declining to review the other misconduct allegations against her, given that the abuse of authority allegation was the...

The UNAT held that even though the Commissioner-General had mistakenly reimbursed the fine to Mr. El-Haj after the issuance of the UNRWA DT Judgment, since the fine was subsequently reimposed, the appeal was not moot.

The UNAT held that in order to find that a staff member’s conduct was “serious misconduct” so as to warrant a more serious sanction, the Commissioner-General had to provide reasons for this determination. In this case, the Commissioner-General provided no reasons, and the UNAT rejected the Commissioner-General’s argument that reasons were not necessary because it was manifestly...

The UNAT found that the written witness statement sought to be submitted constituted new and additional evidence on appeal. The UNAT found that it was apparent that the staff member had known of the evidence at the Dispute Tribunal but, as he noted in his motion and appeal brief, had relied on other grounds which he believed were sufficient to substantiate his claims without risking exposing the witness. The UNAT held that this rendered his request to submit additional evidence on appeal inadmissible. The UNAT denied the motion for leave to submit a confidential witness statement.

The UNAT held that the staff member did not seek an interim measure for temporary relief which was consistent with the UNDT Judgment; on the contrary, he sought the opposite, i.e., anonymization which the Dispute Tribunal and the Appeals Tribunal had not granted him. The UNAT also found that the prior UNAT Judgment was res judicata as to the question of anonymity and could be reversed, if at all, only through a revision of judgment. The UNAT denied the staff member’s motion for interim measures.

The UNAT, by the rationale applicable to appeals and specific claims, allowed the staff member to withdraw the earlier motion without justification. The UNAT granted the motion to withdraw the motion to increase the page limit of the appeal brief.

The UNAT held that the staff member’s motion for recusal of the UNAT Registrar had no merit. The UNAT noted that the decision to administratively close the case had been taken by the UNAT President and communicated to the parties as such by the UNAT Registrar in her letter. The UNAT found that it followed from the administrative closure of a case that parties no longer had the right to access the Court Case Management System under the case number in question. The UNAT held that the UNAT Registrar’s decisions to reject as manifestly inadmissible the staff member’s filings following the case...

The UNAT noted with concern that the JAB had been dismantled temporarily without prior warning given to ISA staff members and with no reasons provided by the Administration; it was also alarming that the Administration had dismantled the JAB with no successor in place, denying the staff members access to justice in the interim. The UNAT found that there were no judgments or decisions from the JAB against which the UNAT could evaluate the requested relief. The UNAT held that the motions had become moot as the JAB had since been reconstituted and a panel to consider the requests for suspension...

The UNAT held that the motion was not receivable because the impugned Order was not appealable and the UNDT had acted within its competence and jurisdiction in finding that the non-renewal decision had been prima facie lawful. The UNAT found that the staff member’s request for reinstatement to his previous position could be considered as “temporary relief to prevent irreparable harm” but it was instead an interlocutory appeal of the denial of the suspension of action which was not permitted. The UNAT also noted that granting the staff member’s request would not maintain consistency with the...