Judgment No. 4653

• Organization: World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
• Date: 07.07.2023
• Original: English
• Judges: Moore, Frydman, Shen
• Full judgment text - Full judgment text (french)

Decision

1. Any person lawfully representing the interests of the deceased complainant may file with the Registry within 90 days from the public delivery of this judgment a document establishing that they lawfully represent the interests of the deceased complainant and indicating that they wish to pursue one or both of the complaints.
2. In the event that no document of the type referred to in the preceding order is filed, the complaints are dismissed.

Summary

The complainant filed two complaints to challenge his performance evaluation for 2015 and a decision to deny his request for protection against retaliation.

Judgment keywords

Keywords

successor; death; complaint dismissed

Considerations 3, 4 & 6

Extract:

WIPO informed the Tribunal that the complainant had passed away on 2 March 2020. The Organization also informed the Tribunal that two family members were mentioned in the complainant’s personal file, namely his wife and a daughter, and it provided the latter’s contact details.
Any person on whom the official’s rights have devolved on her or his death has the right to initiate or pursue a complaint before the Tribunal on the basis of Article II, paragraph 6, of its Statute. In the present case, as no such person came forward seeking to exercise that right, the Registrar of the Tribunal contacted the complainant’s daughter by email on 23 November 2022 in order to discuss how to proceed with the two pending cases. In response, the complainant’s daughter only asked to be provided with a copy of any judgment that might be rendered by the Tribunal on the complaints filed by her father. No further steps have been taken by her or any other person to whom the complainant’s rights have devolved on his death on the basis of [...] Article II, paragraph 6, of the Statute.
[...]
In the circumstances [...], having regard to the subject matter of the disputes, the present absence in the proceedings of a person to whom the complainant’s rights have devolved on his death and the interest of the Tribunal in bringing these cases to a close, the Tribunal will make orders balancing these considerations.

Keywords

successor; death