Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT Held or Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT Pronouncements
Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT held that the appeal was entirely without merit. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT upheld the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT finding that the application was not receivable as the Appellant had waived the relevant right and therefore did not have standing. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT affirmed, albeit for different reasons, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT¡¯s final legal conclusion that the Applicant¡¯s application was not receivable ratione materiae. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT held that there was no reviewable administrative decision in the Appellant¡¯s application. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT held that Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT had no primary legal or factual basis from which it could conclude that the Applicant had properly sought judicial review of a specific reviewable administrative decision. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT held that the application was irreceivable due to the Appellant¡¯s failure to identify in clear and precise terms a specific administrative decision to be challenged. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT held that where the underlying decision cannot be subject to judicial review, then the procedures utilised by the Administration in responding to management evaluation were not subject to judicial review i. e. the Appellant could not create a right to challenge the Administration¡¯s procedures in that way. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT dismissed the appeal and affirmed the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT judgment.
Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed
The Applicant contested what he described as any decisions not to proceed with a justifiable request for inquiry, investigation, and reporting. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT issued a judgment on receivability which dismissed the application. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT found that a Certificate of No Contest signed by the Applicant, which included a handwritten note that said he would not contest his terms of separation, had been entered into freely. On the basis of this agreement, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT found that the Applicant had no standing to bring claims related to or arising from his period of employment with Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDP. In addition, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT found that the Applicant had not clearly identified the contested decision and that he failed to submit a timely request for management evaluation rendering the application not receivable ratione materiae.
Legal Principle(s)
A statutory burden is placed upon an applicant to establish that the administrative decision in issue was in non-compliance with the terms of his or her appointment or contract of employment; such a burden cannot be met where the applicant failed to identify an administrative decision capable of being reviewed, that is, a specific decision which has a direct and adverse impact on the applicant¡¯s contractual rights.