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UNAT held that the Appellant failed to identify grounds for his appeal. UNAT held that the Appellant’s case was fully and fairly considered. UNAT held that UNRWA DT correctly based its conclusion about the legality of the termination decision on the medical assessment by the medical board and without medical findings of its own. UNAT held that the decision to terminate the Appellant’s appointment on medical grounds was a reasonable and valid exercise of UNRWA’s discretion. UNAT held that the Appellant did not meet the burden of proof of demonstrating an error in the impugned judgment such as...

As preliminary matters, UNAT held that: (1) an oral hearing would not assist in the expeditions and fair disposal of the case, noting that the issues of jurisdiction and receivability did not require oral testimony and argument for the fair disposal of the appeal; (2) an order for production of documents was not necessary; (3) the Registry would provide an Arabic translation of the judgment; and (4) the Appellant’s in-session motion, viewed by UNAT as a veiled motion for additional pleadings and a request for adjournment, was denied for lack of exceptional circumstances, noting that the...

UNAT held that UNDT had committed various errors of law, fact, and procedure. UNAT held that the whole reasoning of UNDT was misconstrued and UNDT did not properly examine the lawfulness of the disciplinary sanction. UNAT held that there was clear and convincing evidence that the Appellant awarded and signed a contract on behalf of UNFPA, that she did not conduct any market research or consider other suppliers before doing so, that she had no authority to sign the contract and that she was involved in procurement activities in relation to another UNFPA vendor. Further, UNAT held that there was...

UNAT noted that the Order under appeal was an interlocutory decision because it struck out the matter, which, UNAT clarified, did not mean that UNDT had dismissed the application. UNAT dismissed the appeal as not receivable, noting that the Appellant could supplement her application with UNDT within 90 days of the date of the publication of the UNAT judgment.

Noting that the position in question remained vacant, UNAT held that the decision to leave the position vacant was an exercise of the discretionary authority of UNRWA DT and that there was no procedural irregularity or error of law within the exercise of that discretion. UNAT held that the Appellant did not meet the required burden to be heard on appeal, namely, he failed to identify any of the prescribed grounds of appeal. UNAT held that the Appellant was estopped from raising new arguments on appeal with respect to priority consideration and facts on enrolment which were not argued before...

UNAT held that while the UNRWA DT decision could have had an indirect impact on the Appellant’s terms of appointment or contract, a direct effect is needed in order to allow a staff member to contest an adverse administrative decision. UNAT held that the fact that UNRWA granted the change of modality of contract to the other individual did not have any bearing on the outcome of the UNRWA DT decision, because the application was dismissed on receivability grounds. UNAT held that UNRWA DT did not err in any of its factual findings resulting in a manifestly unreasonable decision. UNAT held that...

UNAT held that UNDT did not make any errors of law and fact when it concluded that the Administration, having issued the offer of appointment on the basis of a factual error to an ineligible candidate who was legally barred from being recruited, had a duty to withdraw the offer, as soon as the mistake was discovered; and that the Administration was legally precluded from issuing a letter of appointment to the Appellant. UNAT held that, on the basis that it had concluded that UNDT did not make any errors of law and fact, it was unnecessary to examine the other grounds of appeal advanced by the...

UNAT held that the decision not to short-list the Appellant was an internal step within the selection process and not an administrative decision and that UNDT should have only received her application against the selection decision whilst the decision not to short-list the Appellant is examined as a part of the final non-selection decision. UNAT held that the appeal was defective as the Appellant did not clearly define the grounds of appeal as required under Article 2(1) of the UNAT Statute, however it considered the appeal on the basis that the Appellant was self-represented. UNAT rejected...

UNAT held that the first time the Appellant’s claim for implementation of the sanction (an apology to the Appellant) was raised was on appeal and that it was therefore not receivable, however, UNAT held that the Appellant was not barred from requesting UNRWA to enforce its letter of censure. On the Appellant’s claim for moral damages, UNAT found no error in UNRWA DT’s order denying the Appellant’s request for moral damages since there was no evidence of harm. UNAT dismissed the appeal and affirmed the UNRWA DT judgment.

Noting that the Appellant, the innocent party, lost her employment, her career prospects within the Organisation, and the offending managers remained entrenched in their positions, UNAT held that there was a substantial variation or a striking disparity between the award made by UNDT and the award that UNAT considered ought to have been made. UNAT held that, given that an order of reinstatement was unlikely to be implemented, a more generous award was justifiable in the circumstances. UNAT held that UNDT did not err in law or fact in denying moral damages, as there was no corroborating...