UNDT/2025/004, Dalal
The Tribunal recalled that it lacks jurisdiction to consider applications from non-staff members.
The Tribunal found that the application was not receivable ratione personae because at the date of the filing of the present application, the Applicant was not a staff member of the United Nations and the contested decision had no bearing on the Applicant’s status as a former staff member or otherwise breached the terms of his former appointment or contract of employment.
Under the circumstances and considering that the application was not receivable, there was no need for the Tribunal to examine the merits of the contested decision.
In view of the foregoing, the Tribunal decided to dismiss the application.
The Applicant filed an application contesting his non-selection for the position of Human Rights Officer at the Business and Human Rights Unit of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (“OHCHR”) at the P-3 level, advertised through Job Opening No. 222469.
In Christensen 2013-UNAT-335, paras. 20-21, the United Nations Appeals Tribunal (“the Appeals Tribunal”, or UNAT) held that “the UNDT (“United Nations Dispute Tribunal”) is competent to review its own competence or jurisdiction in accordance with Article 2(6) of its Statute” when determining the receivability of an application. The Appeals Tribunal further stated, “this competence can be exercised even if the parties or the administrative authorities do not raise the issue, because it constitutes a matter of law and the Statute prevents the UNDT from receiving a case which is actually non-receivable”.
As consistently decided by the Appeals Tribunal, “before a person may be regarded as a former staff member in terms of article 3, there must be a sufficient nexus between the former employment and the contested decision. A sufficient nexus exists when the challenged decision has bearing on an applicant’s former status as a staff member, specifically when it affects his or her prior contractual rights” (Hasan 2022-UNAT-1287 para. 40).
The UNDT lacks jurisdiction to consider applications from non-staff members (Yodjeu Ntemde UNDT-2023-073, para. 6).