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UNAT rejected the request for an oral hearing finding that an oral hearing was neither necessary nor would assist in the expeditious and fair disposal of the case. Regarding the Appellant’s motion, UNAT held that there were no exceptional circumstances that would warrant the granting of the motion. UNAT held that the motion was essentially an attempt by the Appellant to supplement arguments already made in her appeal submissions. UNAT denied the motion. Regarding the appeal’s submissions, UNAT held that that UNDT had erred in law in rejecting the application on the basis that the Appellant’s...

UNAT considered the appeal by the Secretary-General challenging the compensation for moral damages. UNAT held that there was enough evidence produced that the amount of compensation for moral damages had been paid into the staff member’s bank account. UNAT held that the payment of the compensation constituted an acceptance of the Secretary-General of the UNDT judgment. UNAT held that the appeal was, therefore, moot. UNAT rejected the staff member’s claim for costs against the Secretary-General because of abuse of process. UNAT held that although the Secretary-General’s appeal had no merit, it...

UNAT considered an appeal by the staff member and an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT upheld both UNDT’s finding that the decision to close the investigation was improper as well as UNDT’s refusal to order rescission of that decision on account of the subject of the investigation having separated from the Organisation. UNAT, however, vacated UNDT’s moral damages award on the grounds that the staff member did not present any evidence, apart from his own unsworn testimony to support the claim. UNAT held that “generally speaking, the testimony of an applicant alone without corroboration by...

UNAT held that the UNDT’s suggestion that the standard of proof required to rebut the presumption of regularity should be one of preponderance of evidence, was not correct and that the rebuttal of the presumption should occur only where clear and convincing evidence establishes that an irregularity was highly probable. UNAT held that the Appellant’s version did not support an inference of corruption of the process or that he was not fully and fairly considered. UNAT held that although the Appellant met all the educational, work experience, and language requirements of the position, he failed...

UNAT considered the Secretary-General’s appeal by a full bench of UNAT. The majority of the judges upheld UNDT’s findings that the contested decisions were substantively and procedurally flawed and dismissed the appeal. As for UNDT’s moral damages award, the majority noted that the purpose of the amendment to Article 10. 5(b) of the UNDT Statute, made following General Assembly Resolution 69/203, was to introduce an express requirement that compensation for harm can be awarded only when there is a sufficient evidentiary basis. The majority held that evidence of moral injury consisting...

UNAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. UNAT held that the Secretary-General’s submissions were valid in most aspects. UNAT held that the award of 21 months’ compensation was excessive as it was not reasonable to assume that Ms Belkhabbaz’s fixed-term appointment would have been extended for longer than one year, finding that an award of 12 months’ remuneration would be adequate compensation. UNAT held that UNDT exceeded its competence and erred in law by awarding pecuniary damages relating to Applicant’s placement on sick leave with half pay. UNAT held that UNDT erred by awarding...

UNAT considered the receivability of the appeal, whether there was a procedural irregularity, and whether the Appellant was entitled to moral damages. UNAT held that the appeal was receivable because it was filed in a timely fashion, according to Articles 7 and 29 of the RoP. UNAT held that UNDT erred in law in finding that the Administration failed to properly notify the Appellant of her non-selection because she knew about her non-selection early enough to timely challenge the decision. UNAT found that UNDT erred in law and exceeded its competence in awarding the Appellant compensation as...

The only issue in contention in this appeal is whether the UNDT erred on a question of law or fact when it found that the harm to the Appellant was sufficiently evidenced to justify an award of compensation for moral damages. UNAT found that UNDT based the award of compensation for harm both on the evidence produced by the individual and what it described as “pre-existing distress that the individual was already suffering from” which “was exacerbated by the unlawful decision to refuse his request” to investigate the allegations of discrimination. UNDT was to determine whether Mr. Kebede...

On appeal by the Secretary-General, UNAT found that UNDT erred in fact and in law in its finding that the facts of misconduct were not established by clear and convincing evidence. UNAT noted that a proper consideration of the whole of the evidence could only have led to one conclusion, and that is that the individual assaulted the victim. UNAT found that UNDT did not consider the evidence objectively, specifically by giving misplaced importance to minor inconsistencies, coming to unreasonable conclusions on the facts which were not supported by the evidence, and making speculations instead of...

UNAT considered an appeal by the staff member arguing that UNDT erred in not awarding compensation in lieu of remand to ABCC as an alternative remedy. UNAT found no error in the UNDT judgment not awarding in-lieu compensation. UNAT held that since the Secretary-General concurred with the remand in question, the claim became moot. UNAT held that a claim of gross negligence against the Administration is a separate action that could not be included in this claim. UNAT held that the Appellant had not demonstrated that the delay had any impact on her physical or mental well-being, rejecting her...