2017-罌厭弝ⅰAT-784

罌厭弝ⅰAT Held or 罌厭弝ⅰDT Pronouncements

罌厭弝ⅰAT considered an appeal by the Secretary-General. 罌厭弝ⅰAT held that 罌厭弝ⅰDT committed an error of law in deciding that the decisions not to nominate Ms Sarrouh for the IAAP＊s further consideration for the RC positions for which she applied in August and November 2013 were unlawful. 罌厭弝ⅰAT held that 罌厭弝ⅰDT erred by conducting a de novo assessment of Ms Sarrouh＊s performance and exceeded its competence. 罌厭弝ⅰAT held that 罌厭弝ⅰDT erred in law and exceeded its competence by substituting its own decision for that of the Administration regarding the outcome of the selection process. 罌厭弝ⅰAT held that 罌厭弝ⅰDT erred in law by substituting its own views as to the pertinent criteria for Ms Sarrouh＊s post. 罌厭弝ⅰAT held that the Secretary-General was entitled to take into account a report of a very serious problem in the Country Office under Ms Sarrouh＊s responsibility when considering her applications for important posts in other countries and that 罌厭弝ⅰDT was not competent to hold that the Secretary-General should have given precedence to different criteria. 罌厭弝ⅰAT held that, in light of Ms Sarrouh＊s performance, it could not be said that the decision not to nominate her was unreasonable or unlawful. 罌厭弝ⅰAT held that 罌厭弝ⅰDT erred in concluding that Ms Sarrouh＊s entire performance with 罌厭弝ⅰDP was satisfactory. 罌厭弝ⅰAT held that the evidence before 罌厭弝ⅰDT established that the Secretary-General was justified to decide not to nominate her for any positions, an exercise of his broad discretion. 罌厭弝ⅰAT allowed the appeal and vacated the 罌厭弝ⅰDT judgment.

Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed

Ms Sarrouh contested the decision not to nominate her for further consideration by the Inter-Agency Advisory Panel (IAAP) for a number of Resident Coordinator (RC) positions. 罌厭弝ⅰDT granted the application in part. 罌厭弝ⅰDT rejected all claims regarding the Applicant＊s non-selection for the posts for which she had applied in April, September, and October 2013 as non-receivable ratione materiae as she had failed to request management evaluation of those decisions. 罌厭弝ⅰDT found that the decisions not to formally nominate Ms Sarrouh for the IAAP＊s further consideration for the RC positions for which she had applied in August and November 2013 were unlawful. 罌厭弝ⅰDT awarded moral damages.

Legal Principle(s)

In matters of staff selection, the Secretary-General has broad discretion; this discretion is not unfettered and is subject to judicial review. The Tribunals＊ role is not to substitute their decision for that of the Administration.

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 罌厭弝ⅰDT Statute and Article 11(3) of the 罌厭弝ⅰAT 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

Sarrouh

Entity

Case Number(s)

Tribunal

Registry

Date of Judgement