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Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General against Judgment No. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT/2021/032. It also considered a cross-appeal by Ms. Hilaire-Madsen claiming that the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT should have rescinded the Administration¡¯s non-renewal decision and awarded her alternative compensation as well as compensation for moral damages.

As regards the lawfulness of the non-renewal decision, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT held that under the specific circumstances, at the material time of the contested non-renewal decision at the end of December 2018, from the point of view of a fair-minded objective observer, with the information available at...

Whether the Applicant was promised a renewal

The general verbal statement made by the CITO/ASG did not constitute an express promise to renew the Applicant¡¯s fixed-term appointment. It lacked the essential elements of a proper and concrete offer of renewal, such as the duration of the extension and the name of the appointee. The jurisprudence further requires a promise to renew a fixed-term appointment to be in writing.

There is no evidence of a firm commitment to renew the Applicant¡¯s fixed-term appointment. While the Applicant sought to rely on the CITO/ASG¡¯s verbal statements in March...

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT considered an appeal by the staff member.

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT found that the staff member had merely made unsubstantiated general claims about having the requisite skills and experience for his post to be retained.

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT was of the view that, as the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT had correctly held, the staff member had failed to discharge the evidentiary burden to rebut the presumption of regularity that arose from the minimal showing of a rational basis for the decision.

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT found that the record confirmed that there was a genuine restructuring that led to the retrenchment of 29 staff members.

The record...

Whether the Applicant was promised a renewal

The general verbal statement made by the CITO/ASG in March 2022 could not have constituted an express promise to renew the Applicant¡¯s fixed-term appointment. It lacked the essential elements of a proper and concrete offer of renewal, such as the duration of the extension and the name of the appointee. The jurisprudence further requires a promise to renew a fixed-term appointment to be in writing (see Kellie, para. 44). Contrary to the Applicant¡¯s suggestion, the verbal statement was not sufficient to support a firm commitment or an entitlement to...

Mr. Pierre filed an appeal. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT found no error in the Dispute Tribunal's conclusion that the application was not receivable. The contested decision did not have legal consequences adversely affecting the terms and conditions of Mr. Pierre¡¯s appointment and therefore, there was no appealable administrative decision. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT was satisfied that the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT correctly held that since Mr. Pierre had no expectancy of renewal of his fixed-term appointment, the short-term renewals were considered prima facie in his favour. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT also found that Mr. Pierre had not provided sufficient evidence that the...

Procedural issue: anonymity In the present case, the sensitive information regarding the Applicant¡¯s medical history and his mental health status constitutes exceptional circumstances that warrant granting anonymity. Therefore, the Applicant¡¯s name is anonymized in the present judgment. Scope of judicial review It is within the Tribunal¡¯s competence to hold a hearing or look at facts that were allegedly not before the decision-maker to determine whether relevant factors have been ignored. This is fundamentally different from a de novo investigation into the facts underlying the disciplinary...

The Tribunal held that the Applicant had proven that the process of restructuring of the Programme Management Unit leading to the abolition of his post and hence the non-renewal of his contract was arbitrary, capricious, motivated by prejudice, procedurally irregular and an error in law.By its failure to follow the Regulations and Rules for the restructuring and abolition of the Finance Specialist position, the Tribunal agreed with the Applicant that he was singled out among the three international staff members, to pave way for national staff without a legitimate objective criterion, and in...

Whether there was a genuine restructuring process In the present case, there is no evidence that the restructuring exercise was not genuine. Instead, the evidence shows that there was a genuine, large-scale restructuring, and this resulted in numerous staff members and non-staff personnel being separated from service. The restructuring of WSSCC was in effect the shutting down of WSSCC and the establishment of the SHF. Moreover, the strong donor support shows that it was a genuine restructuring. As the donors have a fundamental objective to ensure that the funds they provide are appropriately...

The Tribunal finds that the Respondent¡¯s explanation as to why the Applicant¡¯s post was the one chosen for abolition is well substantiated. There was a genuine large scale restructuring due to severe budget cuts, which resulted in other staff members being separated from service, including the Applicant, and there was a legitimate explanation for the recruitments and vacancies that were not cancelled. The presumption of regularity was satisfied. Since the Applicant cannot convincingly show why his post should not have been abolished even though the posts of dozens of other staff members...

Mr. Farhadi appealed. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT dismissed the appeal. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT dismissed Mr. Farhadi's request for compensation for the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT's delay in delivering its Judgment within a reasonable timeframe. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT noted that Article 9(1)(b) of the Appeals Tribunal Statute authorises the Appeals Tribunal only to award compensation for harm deriving from an administrative decision, not from a delay in the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT¡¯s proceedings. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT dismissed Mr. Farhadi's contention that the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT shifted the burden of proof. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT was satisfied that the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT had assessed all the elements of evidence in the record and correctly found that...