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The Tribunal found that it is incumbent on the Organization to pay home leave travel expenses only for children who are declared and recognized as dependants of the staff member with whom they travel. Family members eligible for home leave travel: Staff rule 5.2(j), which provides that ¡°[d]ependent children whose parents are staff members, each of whom is entitled to home leave, may accompany either parent¡±, must be interpreted in conjunction with staff rules 7.1 and 7.2. In doing so, it becomes clear that the Organization covers only the home leave travel expenses regarding children...

The Applicant requested the Tribunal to find that he suffered a prejudice equivalent to a 60% permanent loss of ENT functions and a 10% permanent loss of respiratory functions and to compensate him accordingly. He further requested the Tribunal to award him two years¡¯ net base salary as compensation for the prejudice suffered as a result of the Organization¡¯s failure to ensure the security and safety of its staff in Bagdad. The Tribunal found that the latter request was not receivable as it did not stem from a refusal decision by the Secretary-General, a decision which, in any event, should...

The Respondent appeared to have a good reason for cancelling the Applicant¡¯s leave. That having been said, however, the manner in which the Applicant was informed of that decision could have been done in a much better way. Considering the fact that the Applicant¡¯s supervisor had only three days earlier, on 9 August 2011, approved his leave, his one-line directive cancelling the Applicant¡¯s leave was not only callous and dismissive but most insensitive. This managerial shortcoming does not, by itself, render the decision prima facie unlawful.Although some harm is caused to the Applicant in...

The Tribunal finds in favour of the Applicant and orders the Administration to carry out a new calculation of the 2009 staff assessment deductions that ought to be reimbursed to her, without taking into consideration her foreign tax credit. Rules governing taxation: In the Organization, as in most national systems, only the deliberative assembly may set the amount of taxes. While the executive power is responsible for setting procedural rules applicable to the collecting of taxes, it is not for that power to take decisions which modify the amount set by the assembly. Hierarchy of the...

Receivability: In light of the Respondent¡¯s own arguments in this case, it should have been clear that the decision taken clearly falls within the type of decisions contemplated by art. 2.1 of the Tribunal¡¯s Statute. This Tribunal has moved toward a less rigid and more purposive interpretation of what constitutes an administrative decision and parties should not fail to take into account the developing case law of the Dispute Tribunal and the Appeals Tribunal. Incomplete applications: There may be cases where an application for sabbatical leave, while formally containing the documents and...

The Tribunal finds that the Administration erred in considering that no classification decision had been taken. It further finds that the Applicant duly followed the procedure foreseen in ST/AI/1998/9 and that she was deprived of her right to a remedy. Turning to the question whether such breach resulted in loss of a chance to have her post classified at the P-4 level, the Tribunal considers that the Applicant has not shown that she suffered any actual material harm, given the uncertainty surrounding a possible approval of the new budgetary post by OPPBA and the General Assembly. However, it...

Method of interpretation: The interpretation of a statutory document proceeds first by establishing the plain meaning of the words in the context of the document as a whole. Only if the wording is ambiguous should the Tribunal have recourse to other documents or external sources to aid in the interpretation.Respondent¡¯s discretion in providing benefits: As a matter of principle, the Administration has no discretion in the granting of allowances but is bound to strictly apply the applicable rules.Outcome: Application rejected on the merits

Time limits for requesting administrative review: Due to the pronouncement of the Appeals Tribunal in Costa, the Dispute Tribunal is unable to suspend or waive deadlines with respect to administrative review or management evaluation, irrespective of the circumstances of each case. Unless an appropriate case is put before the Appeals Tribunal and it decides to limit the seemingly absolute application of the pronouncements of Costa as it currently stands, this Tribunal is bound to follow them, even where sick leave or other intervening events would render filing impossible for an applicant...

Based on the JAB recommendation, the Secretary-General had previously awarded the Applicant the amount of USD23,400 (three months net base salary) in compensation for an error in the consideration of her academic qualifications during the selection process. The Tribunal found that, in addition to the above-mentioned error, a number of substantial procedural irregularities had tainted the selection process, including the fact that the Senior Review Group had failed to pre-approve the evaluation criteria as required by ST/AI/2002/4 and met without having developed and published its own...

In accordance with staff rule 7.6(e), the Applicant¡¯s official departure date from Vienna was on Sunday, 14 March 2010, a non-working day in Vienna. Pursuant to section 5.2 of ST/AI/2006/4, had he departed on that date, he would not have been entitled to an additional day of annual leave to compensate for official travel on a non-working day. The fact that the Applicant chose to travel on a working day for reasons of personal convenience shall not have the effect of granting him a benefit to which he would not have been entitled had he travelled on the official date of travel.