Judgment No. 571

• Organization: European Patent Organisation (EPO)
• Date: 20.12.1983
• Original: English
• Judges: Grisel, Ducoux, Devlin
• Full judgment text - Full judgment text (french)

Decision

THE COMPLAINT IS DISMISSED.

Consideration 4

Extract:

"It is not for the Tribunal to interpret the text of the guideline. The [Staff] Regulation leaves it to the discretion of the President to determine the number of years [of professional experience] so long as he has regard to the guideline. [...] He is entitled to have regard to the fact that the interpretation [put on it], whether right or wrong, has been applied consistently since the first staff were recruited and it cannot now be changed without causing injustice."

Keywords

competence; competence of tribunal; practice; administrative instruction; interpretation; professional experience; discretion; executive head