Judgment 293
38th Session, 1977
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 1
Extract:
"It is not disputed that [...] the council of the organization could by means of a resolution supplement or amend the Staff Regulations without prejudice to the acquired rights of staff members."
Keywords:
acquired right; amendment to the rules; competence; decision; executive body; staff regulations and rules;
Judgment 292
38th Session, 1977
European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 17
Extract:
The Tribunal will not rule whether a rule of application can be amended by an office notice. "It will assume for the purposes of this case that a valid amendment can be made by office notice, provided that: a) the document containing the amendment is made by the Director-General himself; b) the intention to amend is made clear in the document; c) the amendment is clear in its effect; d) the amendment is not deemed effective to deprive an official of essential acquired rights."
Keywords:
acquired right; administrative instruction; amendment to the rules; competence; competence of tribunal; condition; executive head; judicial review; staff regulations and rules;
Consideration 18
Extract:
"A change in the conditions of remuneration is not an ordinary administrative matter; it is something which the Director-General is expected to consider and decide himself. In the absence of [words to that effect] it is not therefore to be supposed that the power to amend [rules] is one which the Director-General can delegate. [The relevant article] specifies that in individual cases the application of the Staff Regulations may be delegated, but there is no similar provision in respect of the making of general rules."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; competence; decision-maker; delegated authority; executive head; no provision; salary; staff regulations and rules;
Consideration 20
Extract:
"An office notice is the instrument by which the administration communicates in general terms with the staff membership. It may be used for many purposes besides the amendment of the rules of application. In order to be effective as an amendment it must therefore be made clear on the document itself that amendment is its purpose."
Keywords:
administrative instruction; amendment to the rules; condition; effect; purpose; staff regulations and rules;
Consideration 15
Extract:
"If it is to be granted that the power to make a rule must embrace a power to amend it, then the Director-General could unilaterally amend Rule No. 7, but only by the exercise of his rule-making power. There is no document in the dossier [which explicitly shows him to have exercised] such a power."
Keywords:
adoption; amendment to the rules; competence; decision-maker; executive head; provision; staff regulations and rules;
Consideration 18
Extract:
"In the absence of [words to that effect] it is not [...] to be supposed that the power to amend [the] rule [respecting conditions of remuneration] is one which the Director-General can delegate. [The material provision] specifies that in individual cases the application of staff regulations may be delegated, but there is no similar provision in respect of the making of general rules."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; competence; delegated authority; no provision; provision; staff regulations and rules;
Consideration 22
Extract:
The instructions "take the form of a new and contradictory text; they do not make it clear what part of the old text is superseded and what part retained. [...] The fact [...] that documents were being signed indiscriminately by the Director-General and the director p. and a. strongly suggests that the formality appropriate to an amendment was not being contemplated at all. The fact that language appropriate to amendment was not being used suggests the same thing. [...] The effect of the instructions is not to amend [the] article but to apply its provisions."
Keywords:
administrative instruction; amendment to the rules; effect; enforcement; formal requirements; provision; staff regulations and rules;
Consideration 12
Extract:
The article was amended by an office note. "The complainant's request for an interpretation of [the article] is a request for a decision relating to him; it may be made at any time and is not subject to any time limit. [The administration] never gave any decision upon the interpretation of [this] article [...] or upon the relationship to it of the office notices; this [...] is the substantial question in this case."
Keywords:
administrative instruction; amendment to the rules; decision; failure to answer claim; interpretation; provision; receivability of the complaint; request by a party; staff regulations and rules; time limit;
Judgment 275
36th Session, 1976
International Patent Institute
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations
Extract:
The Tribunal notes that the decisions of the Director-General were not promotions but reclassifications following the entry into force of the new Staff Regulations. These reclassifications "having been delayed for reasons for which the staff members are not responsible should be put into effect at the date on which the complainants took up their duties but, like the Staff Regulations themselves, not before 1 January 1971".
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; date; decision; delay; effective date; enforcement; post classification; provision; staff regulations and rules;
Judgment 274
36th Session, 1976
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 13
Extract:
The elections were postponed by the Election and Referendum Committee following an intervention by the Director-General. "Whatever may be the power under the Staff Regulations, the Statutes, which are the [...] Committee's only source of authority, required quite clearly that the election should be held in January. The Committee may have believed that the Director-General's prerogative enabled him to dispense them from observance of the Statutes, but they cannot [...] have supposed that their action would not meet with criticism and even indignation."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; competence; date; election; enforcement; executive head; provision; staff regulations and rules; staff representative;
Judgment 265
36th Session, 1976
European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations
Extract:
"The Director-General of the organisation, by virtue of the general authority conferred on him as such and in the interests of efficiency, is empowered to change the duties assigned to his subordinates provided that that change is not tainted with any flaw which entitles the Tribunal to interfere. In the present case it is not disputed that the change was not so tainted. In particular, it does not appear from the documents in the dossier that the impugned decision was taken from any motive other than a desire to promote work efficiency."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; assignment; consequence; discontinuance; discretion; judicial review; organisation's interest; special post allowance;
Judgment 257
34th Session, 1975
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations 4-5
Extract:
"After the complainant's promotion the changes which occurred in salary scales and adjustments in the general service category were more beneficial to the staff than those which occurred in the professional category. [...] The consequence is that her annual pension is now [...] less than it would have been if she had not accepted promotion." The complainant ought not to have to suffer from her promotion.
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; consequence; general service category; pension; professional category; promotion; reduction of salary; salary; scale;
Judgment 234
32nd Session, 1974
World Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations
Extract:
"[T]here can be no claim in respect of currency devaluation as such." But there can be a claim for compensation for the delay in payment. "In the circumstances of [the] case this compensation should be assessed as the diminution in the amount of rupees eventually received by the complainant, the diminution being due to the change in the rupee/dollar rate during the period of delay."
Keywords:
administrative delay; amendment to the rules; competence of tribunal; consequence; currency of payment; delay in payment; exchange rate; execution of judgment; injury; judgment of the tribunal; material damages; moral injury; receivability of the complaint;
Considerations
Extract:
Judgment No. 195 ordered the payment of US $20,000 in respect of moral and material damage. The period comprising the delay in payment began one month after the notification of the judgment and ended on the date of payment. "The amount of compensation should be ascertained by taking the difference between the rates as quoted on the international exchanges on these two dates."
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 195
Keywords:
administrative delay; amendment to the rules; amount; exchange rate; injury; material damages; moral injury; payment; period;
Judgment 230
32nd Session, 1974
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations
Extract:
The contracts concluded were replaced by a new contract effective retroactively. The organization argues that the situation in question resulted from an earlier contract which was not challenged. "[H]aving replaced one contract with another the organization is implicitly estopped from arguing that the original contract was not contested in time. Hence, insofar as that contract is relevant, the organization cannot properly rely on the non-observance of the rules on internal means of redress."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; contract; internal remedies exhausted; receivability of the complaint;
Judgment 228
32nd Session, 1974
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 3
Extract:
After working under a P.5 contract, the complainant accepted a P.4 mission on condition that his post would be upgraded to P.5. The organization had clearly informed him that the upgrading of his post would depend on the results of an administrative procedure; "it could not promise and had in fact never promised any positive outcome"; it "kept the complainant informed of the steps taken under the procedure and of developments. [The complainant] cannot therefore properly contend that the organization showed bad faith towards him."
Keywords:
acceptance; amendment to the rules; condition; contract; downgrading; good faith; grade; offer; post classification; promise; promotion;
Consideration 3
Extract:
After holding a P.5 contract, the complainant was offered a P.4 mission. The appointment was "a new one and quite distinct from those he had previously held. His appointment at a lower grade cannot be assimilated to downgrading in the absence of any special circumstances."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; contract; downgrading; grade; offer;
Judgment 220
31st Session, 1973
International Patent Institute
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations
Extract:
The complainant had never availed himself of the opportunity which was available to him under a former provision to transfer part of his remuneration. Yet "[...] he had a direct and personal interest in seeking the quashing of a decision which deprived him of that possibility."
Keywords:
administrative instruction; amendment to the rules; cause of action; decision; injury; provision; receivability of the complaint; staff regulations and rules;
Judgment 217
31st Session, 1973
International Patent Institute
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 1
Extract:
"At the time of his recruitment and on the confirmation of his appointment [...] the complainant was subject to the former Staff Rules and was therefore in a different position from staff members recruited under the new Staff Regulations [...] Consequently, the complainant did not suffer unequal treatment in relation to staff members appointed later because he was not in the same position as they were."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; equal treatment; provision; staff regulations and rules; terms of appointment;
Consideration 1
Extract:
According to the texts bonuses which take account of previous experience form part of the terms of appointment. The complainant was confirmed before the new provisions came into effect. He cannot therefore claim benefit under these new regulations. "He could only do so if that article was retroactive to the date at which the complainant was recruited, which is not the case."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; increment; non-retroactivity; professional experience; provision; seniority; staff regulations and rules; terms of appointment;
Judgment 209
30th Session, 1973
International Telecommunication Union
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations
Extract:
"[O]nly if the [organisation] had upset the whole structure of the complainant's contract or derogated from the basic conditions which might have affected his decision to accept appointment could its action have given rise to the award of compensation."
Keywords:
acquired right; amendment to the rules; definition; terms of appointment;
Summary
Extract:
The complainant contends that the payment of his salary in United States dollars and not in Swiss francs was in violation of his terms of appointment. He has no such acquired right. Besides, he had accepted payment in United States dollars for twelve years without protest. The decisions taken by the authorities concerning these payments are not open to discussion in view of a settlement. The Secretary-General was in no way required to reverse those decisions following the devaluation of the dollar and the Tribunal will not interfere with them.
Keywords:
acquired right; amendment to the rules; competence of tribunal; currency of payment; exchange rate; salary; terms of appointment;
Judgment 208
30th Session, 1973
Universal Postal Union
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 6
Extract:
"At the time of his appointment the complainant was subject to the old grading standards. His position was therefore different from that of staff members recruited in accordance with the new standards. Thus, since he was not in the same position as those staff members, the complainant did not suffer any discrimination in relation to them."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; equal treatment; grade; post classification; provision; seniority; staff regulations and rules; terms of appointment;
Consideration 3
Extract:
"The complainant may not [...] properly rely upon the failure to publish [recruitment] standards which apply to staff members recruited after his own appointment and which therefore do not directly concern him."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; duty to inform; lack of injury; no cause of action; non-retroactivity; provision; receivability of the complaint; staff regulations and rules; terms of appointment;
Consideration 6
Extract:
"[T]he principle of equality must be applied within the limits imposed by efficient administration. [I]t would therefore be unreasonable to require an organisation to review the terms of appointment of all its staff in the light of the principle of equality as a result of changes in standards of recruitment."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; enforcement; equal treatment; general principle; limits; terms of appointment;
Judgment 202
30th Session, 1973
International Patent Institute
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations
Extract:
Seniority bonuses are part of the terms of recruitment. Only by retroactive application of the new Staff Rules could the complainant be granted an additional bonus. But the new rules are not retroactive and the complainant's reliance on them is ill-founded.
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; enforcement; increment; non-retroactivity; professional experience; provision; seniority; staff regulations and rules; terms of appointment;
Considerations
Extract:
"At the time of his recruitment and of the confirmation of his appointment [...] the complainant was subject to the former Staff Rules and was therefore in a different position from staff members recruited under the new Staff Rules [...] The complainant did not suffer unequal treatment in relation to staff members appointed later because he was not in the same position as they were."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; equal treatment; non-retroactivity; provision; staff regulations and rules; terms of appointment;
Judgment 199
30th Session, 1973
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations
Extract:
"It is clear that the organization has acted strictly in accordance with the regulations as they were on [...] the date when the complainant was promoted [...] It is clear also that it would have been for the personal benefit of the complainant if the promotion had been delayed until after the change in the regulations had taken effect" [one month later]. The Tribunal can see no grounds for interfering with the impugned decision.
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; date; effective date; enforcement; non-retroactivity; promotion; provision; staff regulations and rules;
Judgment 190
28th Session, 1972
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations
Extract:
"[T]he offer made to the complainant by the organization of a new contract involving appointment to a P.4 post [...] at a salary substantially equivalent to his previous salary did not imply any demotion, entailing as it did the conclusion of a new contract. To avoid incurring the injury for which he has claimed compensation, the complainant could have accepted that offer, which in the circumstances of the case appeared to be a reasonable one."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; complainant; contract; downgrading; fixed-term; grade; non-renewal of contract; offer; refusal; salary;
Judgment 168
25th Session, 1970
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 2
Extract:
The complainant lost her non-local status, which was linked to nationality, through marriage. In contesting the validity of the newly applied rule, she alleges "sex discrimination, category discrimination [and] lack of agreement with the staff council [...] The Tribunal holds that, even if the allegation was well founded in fact, it would not affect the validity of [the rule] inasmuch as the Director-General by making the rule would not be exceeding the powers conferred upon him under [...] the general rules of the organization."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; equal treatment; local status; marital status; nationality; non-local status; provision; sex discrimination; staff regulations and rules;
Consideration 3
Extract:
The complainant contends that the provision depriving her of non-local status as a result of marriage is not applicable since she had acquired a right to non-resident status under her initial contracts. The Tribunal will not rule on the acquired right. Even if she had had that right, it did not outlive "the contracts themselves, the latest of which expired before her marriage."
Keywords:
acquired right; amendment to the rules; contract; enforcement; local status; non-local status; provision; staff regulations and rules;
Judgment 167
25th Session, 1970
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 2
Extract:
Vide Judgment 168, consideration 2.
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 168
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; equal treatment; local status; marital status; nationality; non-local status; provision; sex discrimination; staff regulations and rules;
Consideration 3
Extract:
Vide Judgment 168, consideration 3.
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 168
Keywords:
acquired right; amendment to the rules; contract; enforcement; local status; non-local status; provision; staff regulations and rules;
Judgment 122
20th Session, 1968
Universal Postal Union
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations
Extract:
The decision not to renew his contract was notified to the complainant on 6 March and again on 15 June following his request for a review. On 25 June the complainant addressed a request to the organisation based on new arguments and directed to securing reconsideration of his case. Following this request the Director-General communicated to the complainant on 14 August a decision definitely confirming the previous decision, but in part on new grounds. The time limit for the filing of the complaint began to run only from the date of the notification of the decision of 14 August.
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; complaint; confirmatory decision; contract; date; date of notification; decision; fixed-term; grounds; non-renewal of contract; receivability of the complaint; start of time limit; time limit;
Judgment 115
18th Session, 1967
World Meteorological Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 7
Extract:
"[The] complainant's transfer, which involved no reduction in her salary, did not affect the nature of her appointment. In spite of her assignment to a temporary post, she continued to enjoy all the rights resulting from her appointment as a permanent staff member of the Organization. It follows that the [transfer] decision is not tainted by illegality."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; assignment; duration of appointment; effect; permanent appointment; salary; short-term; terms of appointment; transfer;
