2014-Ģ��ƵAT-485

Ģ��ƵAT Held or Ģ��ƵDT Pronouncements

Ģ��ƵAT considered the Secretary-General��s appeal as to whether Ms Carrabregu was eligible to be considered for a permanent appointment. Ģ��ƵAT noted that the factual sequence clearly showed that Ms Carrabregu freely and willingly resigned from her service with Ģ��ƵDP to take up an appointment with a different entity (Ģ��ƵV), thereby causing a break in service. Ģ��ƵAT held that this break in service should have led Ģ��ƵDT to uphold the administrative decision that Ms Carrabregu was not eligible for conversion to a permanent appointment. Ģ��ƵAT further noted that Ms Carrabregu��s service to Ģ��ƵV could not be considered a reinstatement, as the terms of it reflected that it consisted of a completely new appointment, to the extent that Ms Carrabregu��s annual leave from her prior appointment was not carried over to her appointment with Ģ��ƵV, which was another indicator of a break in service that she expressly acknowledged. Ģ��ƵAT allowed the appeal and vacated Ģ��ƵDT��s judgment. Ģ��ƵAT also affirmed the administrative decision regarding Ms Carrabregu��s ineligibility for conversion to a permanent appointment.

Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed

Ms Carrabregu contested the decision to deem her ineligible for consideration for a permanent appointment. Ģ��ƵDT held that Ģ��ƵDP erred in allowing Ms Carrabregu to be placed on special leave without pay so that she could take up a 300-series ALD appointment, which resulted in Ģ��ƵDP being unable to take her September 2009 resignation into account for the purpose of determining her eligibility for a permanent appointment. Ģ��ƵDT concluded that Ms Carrabregu must be considered to have met the requirement of continuous service and therefore ordered the rescission of the contested decision.

Legal Principle(s)

A break in service of any duration prior to the date on which the staff member reached the five years of qualifying service will interrupt the continuity of service. Breaks in service after the date on which the staff member reached five years of qualifying service will not automatically disqualify staff members from being considered for a permanent appointment; their situation will be reviewed taking into account the specific facts of each case.

Outcome

Appeal granted

OAJ prepared this case law summary for informational purposes only. It is no official record and should not be relied upon as an authoritative interpretation of the Tribunals' rulings. For the authoritative texts, please refer to the judgment or order rendered by the respective Tribunal. The Tribunals are the only bodies competent to interpret their respective judgments, as provided under Article 12(3) of the Ģ��ƵDT Statute and Article 11(3) of the Ģ��ƵAT Statute. Any inaccuracies in the publication are the sole responsibility of OAJ, which should be contacted directly for any correction requests. To provide comments, don't hesitate to get in touch with OAJ at oaj@un.org.

The judgment summaries were generally prepared in English. They were translated into French and are being reviewed for accuracy of the translation.

Applicants/Appellants

Carrabregu

Entity

Case Number(s)

Tribunal

Registry

Date of Judgement