Judgment No. 1129

• Organization: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
• Date: 03.07.1991
• Original: English
• Judges: Ducoux, Suffian, Ruda
• Full judgment text - Full judgment text (french)

Decision

THE COMPLAINT IS DISMISSED.

Consideration 6

Extract:

The complainant's post was abolished for reasons of financial stringency. According to Circular 1583 proposals to abolish a post must come from the competent Assistant Director-General. In this case the Assistant Director-General did not specifically name the complainant's post. He merely abolished the division which the complainant headed. It being impossible for the Director's post to survive after abolition of a division to direct, the allegation of a procedural flaw fails.

Reference(s)

Organization rules reference: CIRCULAR NO. 1583

Keywords

procedure before the tribunal; competence; administrative instruction; abolition of post; budgetary reasons; termination of employment; decision-maker; procedural flaw

Consideration 8

Extract:

"There will indeed be misuse of authority where an administration acts for reasons that are extraneous to the organisation's best interests and seeks some objective other than those which the authority vested in it is intended to serve." There is no evidence that the organization, which followed the prescribed procedure and did its utmost to find another post for the complainant, dismissed him for reasons other than those linked to the financial crisis it was facing.

Keywords

procedure before the tribunal; grounds; abolition of post; budgetary reasons; reassignment; termination of employment; organisation's interest; misuse of authority; definition; abuse of power