Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµAT Held or Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµDT Pronouncements
Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµAT considered an appeal by Mr Appleton and a cross-appeal by the Secretary-General. Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµAT held by majority that Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµDT did not make an error of law or fact resulting in a manifestly unreasonable decision when it declined to award compensatory damages to Mr Appleton. Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµAT held that it was entirely appropriate for Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµDT to approach the issue of compensation under Article 10(5) of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµDT Statute by engaging in a consideration of Mr Appleton¡¯s likely prospects of success. Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµAT held that Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµDT correctly found that Mr Appleton¡¯s appointment to the post was not a foregone conclusion and thus he had no expectation of being appointed. Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµAT held that, as Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµDT found, Mr Appleton should have reasonable believed that it was unlikely that he would be appointed to the post when the vacancy was re-advertised. Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµAT held that there was no error in the approach of Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµDT in determining the amount of moral damages to award to Mr Appleton. On the Secretary-General¡¯s challenge to the statement of Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµDT on cross-appeal, regarding the inappropriateness of high-level Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ officials to comment publicly on a pending selection process, Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµAT held that the statement by Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµDT was not a ruling of any sort and could not be considered separately from the Secretary-General¡¯s second claim on cross-appeal, which challenged the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµDT¡¯s consideration of the highly public selection process as a factor in awarding moral damages. Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµAT held that since the Secretary-General did not challenge the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµDT¡¯s consideration of the other factors listed as grounds for the award of moral damages to Mr Appleton, such as delay, frustration, distress and anxiety, and such factors clearly supported an award of moral damages, the Secretary-General¡¯s claim came to naught, and the cross-appeal should be dismissed. On Mr Appleton¡¯s request for costs, Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµAT held that, although it had found no merit in the Secretary-General¡¯s cross-appeal, it did not find that the cross-appeal was frivolous or that its filing was an abuse of process, and therefore denied the request. Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµAT dismissed the appeal (Judge Chapman partially dissenting) and the cross-appeal.
Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed
Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµDT Judgment: The Applicant contested the decision to reject his nomination for a post. Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµDT found for the Applicant and awarded damages of USD 30,000.
Legal Principle(s)
There is more than one method by which the trial court can assess compensatory damages, and it is up to that court to determine the method to employ in each case. It is well within the discretion of Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµDT to determine the amount of moral damages to award for procedural violations in light of the unique circumstances of each case; the amount may vary from case to case depending on the factors considered by Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµDT.