Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT Held or Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT Pronouncements
Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT considered the Appellant¡¯s appeal, requesting that the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA DT judgment be vacated. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT agreed with Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA DT and upheld its findings that the Agency was entitled, under the provisions of paragraph 2 of FTI 01/2016, to fill the concerned post by means of a lateral transfer of current staff members. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT also agreed with, and upheld, the ruling that it was not within the remit of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA DT to pronounce on the exercise of the Agency¡¯s discretion in deciding on the lateral transfers unless there is evidence that the discretion was exercised arbitrarily or unlawfully. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT found that there was no evidence to support the allegation of arbitrary and unlawful exercise of discretion by the Agency as it relates to the contested transfer decision. Moreover, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT found no evidence of the assertions made by the Appellant that the selection process for the employment roster was corrupted and that he had been subjected to discrimination during the selection process. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT found no fault with the judgment of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA DT and, accordingly, affirmed the judgment and dismissed the appeal.
Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed
The Applicant contested the Agency¡¯s decision to reassign a staff member. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA DT found that the Agency was entitled to fill the concerned post by means of transfer of a current staff member. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA DT further considered that it was not within its remit to pronounce on the exercise of the Agency¡¯s discretion in deciding on the lateral transfers unless the discretion was exercised arbitrarily or unlawfully. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA DT held that the transfer, in this case, was not arbitrary or unlawful as the decision was taken in line with the LFO¡¯s practice under FTI 01/2016 to process transfer requests before rostered candidates and to prioritize candidates based on their seniority. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA DT further held that even if the Applicant¡¯s contention that ¡°the selection process for the employment roster was corrupted and he was subjected to discrimination during the selection process for not being a Palestine refugee¡± was true, it would be ¡°not only¡inadequately supported by evidence but¡also irrelevant to the impugned decision [to] transfer¡[the staff member] to a GF post of P&L Clerk¡±. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA DT accordingly dismissed the application in its entirety.
Legal Principle(s)
Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA Area Staff Regulation 4. 3, together with FTI 01/2016, provide the basis for the lateral transfer of staff within the Agency. The Administration has the power to restructure and reorganize its units and its departments to lend to greater efficiency, and it is not up to the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT to pronounce on the exercise of this discretion unless there is evidence of arbitrary and unlawful exercise of the discretion. The filling of posts by transfer of existing staff represents an exception to the general principle that posts shall be filled through a competitive process.