Judgment No. 1090
Decision
1. THE COMPLAINANT'S PRINCIPAL CLAIM IS DISMISSED.
2. THE ORGANIZATION SHALL PAY HIM 15,000 FRENCH FRANCS IN DAMAGES FOR MORAL INJURY.
3. IT SHALL PAY HIM 5,000 FRENCH FRANCS TOWARDS COSTS.
Considerations 2-3
Extract:
The United Nations Secretary-General and the Director-General of the FAO delegated authority to the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) to apply and interpret the FAO Staff Regulations and Staff Rules. Under Regulation 14(j) of the General Rules of the WFP any special rules the Executive Director might propose must be approved by the UN Secretary-General and the Director-General of the FAO. The complainant contends that as the provisions of the new personnel policy implemented by the Executive Director never got the required approval they are not special rules at all and do not therefore apply to him. The Tribunal holds to the contrary that Regulation 14(j) does give the provisions the force of special rules: there is no specific form their approval must take and the competent authorities have not disapproved of them.
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: REGULATION 14(J) OF THE GENERAL RULES OF THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME
Keywords
formal requirements; competence; decision-maker; delegated authority
Consideration 7
Extract:
The complainant says that the Executive Director of the World Food Programme assured him in an interview that he could be sent to Tunisia for one term. The evidence shows that the organization took ten months before making its position clear without however denying outright that the Executive Director had made such a promise. The complainant therefore had good reason to expect up to then that he would get what he wanted. The FAO's behaviour could but cause the complainant at least moral injury for which he is entitled to redress.
Keywords
injury; moral injury; transfer; legitimate expectation; promise
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