Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT Held or Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT Pronouncements
The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT first addressed the staff member¡¯s request for an oral hearing. The staff member wished to present medical evidence to the Tribunal to prove his medical incapacitation. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT rejected this argument, noting that the appeal was a review of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT judgment based on the evidence presented to the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT, and the staff member had not applied to present new evidence. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT also rejected the arguments that the staff member could use the oral hearing to explain various policies or to advance an amicable resolution with the Administration. The request for the oral hearing was denied.
On the merits, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT held there was no error in the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT Judgment. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT concluded that pursuant to Staff Rule 11.2(c), the staff member¡¯s failure to seek management evaluation until more than 60 days had elapsed since he was notified of the contested decisions meant that he could not apply to the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT to challenge those decisions. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT further noted that under Article 8.3 of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT Statute, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT had no authority to waive the deadline for making a request for management evaluation. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT noted that despite the staff member¡¯s pleas about the injustice of his plight, given his medical condition, neither the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵAT nor the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT had the power to waive these time limits.
The appeal was dismissed.
Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed
In Judgment No. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT/2021/117, the Dispute Tribunal denied the staff member¡¯s application contesting various decisions of the Administration denying reimbursement of expenses incurred in connection with his medical travel and his requests for security evacuation allowances. The Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDT denied the application because the staff member had not made timely requests for management evaluation of the contested decisions.
The staff member appealed, arguing that his incapacitation due to illness warranted an exception to the time limitations.
Legal Principle(s)
It is well-settled that the Dispute Tribunal may only review decisions that have been the subject of a timely request for management evaluation.
Although the Dispute Tribunal has discretionary powers to vary time limits for taking steps in relation to litigation, Article 8.3 of its Statute expressly provides that it lacks jurisdiction to waive deadlines for management evaluation.