Judgment No. 429
Decision
1. THE ORGANISATION'S APPLICATION FOR THE REMOVAL OF WRITTEN EVIDENCE IS DISALLOWED.
2. THE COMPLAINTS ARE DISMISSED.
3. THE APPLICATIONS TO INTERVENE ARE DISMISSED.
Consideration 9
Extract:
"An organisation's rules do not confer any acquired right on staff members except where it was the rules that induced them to join the international civil service and the amendment of the rules will substantially alter conditions of service which they were entitled to expect would continue."
Keywords
acquired right; staff regulations and rules; terms of appointment; definition
Consideration 1
Extract:
"The requirement that the internal means of redress should have been exhausted means that a complaint will be irreceivable if its scope is wider than that of the claims which were submitted to the internal appeal bodies. There is no need, however, for the pleas submitted to the Tribunal to have been put to those bodies. A complainant does not, merely by developing the case he put to the internal bodies, alter the scope of review by the Tribunal, which will apply the law proprio motu. The scope of review will alter only if the complainant submits new claims to the Tribunal."
Keywords
complaint; new claim; receivability of the complaint; internal remedies exhausted; new plea
Consideration 9
Extract:
"When [the complainants] joined the staff they naturally took a keen interest in pension matters such as the amount of their contributions and of the pension itself, and perhaps they did acquire a right from the rules on such matters. But the rate of contribution by the [organisation] was a matter of lesser importance to them: its effect on their position was not direct enough for any acquired right to arise."
Keywords
organisation; acquired right; terms of appointment; pension; unjspf; contributions; pension entitlements
Consideration 2
Extract:
The statutory provisions which prohibit the disclosure of evidence are not binding on the Tribunal, which is competent to decide on what evidence is admissible. The Tribunal "will decide the matter as it deems fit, with due regard to the interests of both parties - the complainant's interest in having written evidence to support his case and the interest of the organisation or of third parties in preserving the privileged nature of such evidence."
Keywords
competence of tribunal; admissibility of evidence; confidential evidence; disclosure of evidence
Consideration 2
Extract:
Statutory provisions prohibit officials from disclosing information not already made public or from disclosing, without permission from the Director-General, in any legal proceedings information of which they have knowledge by reason of their duties. Such permission will be refused only when the interests of the organisation so require. On the strength of these provisions the organisation requests the withdrawal of certain items. "The provisions cited [...] govern the relationship between the [organisation] and its staff [...]. They are not binding on the Tribunal since no Staff Regulations may limit the Tribunal's competence to determine whether written evidence is admissible."
Keywords
competence of tribunal; admissibility of evidence; confidential evidence; disclosure of evidence; duty of discretion
Consideration 8
Extract:
"Only the body empowered to amend Staff Regulations may determine whether the amendments it adopts are desirable. That is a matter for the governing bodies of the organisation, not the Tribunal, to decide."
Keywords
competence; competence of tribunal; staff regulations and rules; amendment to the rules
Consideration 9
Extract:
"The Tribunal will consider the plea since there is a general principle of law protecting acquired rights, even in the absence of express provision."
Keywords
competence of tribunal; general principle; acquired right; no provision
Consideration 3
Extract:
"The right to impugn a decision subsumes the right to challenge the rule on which the decision is founded. But the Tribunal may not exercise as wide a power of review over the rule as over the decision taken under it."
Keywords
complaint; decision; competence of tribunal; staff regulations and rules; enforcement; provision; judicial review
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