Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµAT Held or Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµDT Pronouncements
Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµAT held that Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµDT¡¯s decision on an Appellant¡¯s request to suspend, waive or extend deadlines is not a judgment made in respect of an appeal against an administrative decision, within the meaning of Article 2 of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµAT Statute, since no appeal had yet been filed. Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµAT held, therefore, that Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµDT¡¯s decision on the Appellant¡¯s request of extension could not be appealed. Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµAT dismissed the appeal and affirmed the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµDT judgment.
Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed
The Applicant contested the decision not to review the grade that had been offered to him during his recruitment (FS-3/I). The Applicant filed an appeal to the Joint Appeals Board (JAB), although the JAB never acknowledged receipt of an appeal. The Applicant requested an extension of the deadline to avail himself of legal assistance. Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµDT granted him a seven-week extension, bringing the deadline for submitting his application to 13 October 2009. The Applicant filed later a second request for an extension of the deadline to 12 January 2010. Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµDT found that the Applicant had not shown enough diligence in seeking legal advice during the additional time that he had been granted. Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµDT concluded that the application constituted an abuse of the process and rejected the second request for an extension of time.
Legal Principle(s)
Article 8. 3 of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµDT Statute and Article 7.5 of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµDT RoP do not confer any right upon the Applicant, but simply provide the option of requesting the Tribunal to suspend, waive or extend deadlines where exceptional circumstances can be shown. It is for the Tribunal to decide whether exceptional circumstances justify the request.