Judgment 972
66th Session, 1989
World Meteorological Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 15
Extract:
"The complainant's performance reports all show that he was a highly competent and dedicated officer who did valuable work for the organization, and letters in the dossier support the view that administrations in several countries appreciated the effectiveness of the programme he supervised. There is therefore no question of the non-renewal's being justified by unsatisfactory professional performance on his part."
Keywords:
contract; fixed-term; non-renewal of contract; performance report; satisfactory service;
Consideration 18
Extract:
"The Secretary-General not only omitted to give due weight to the complainant's excellent record of service over a period of seven years, but also [...] overlooked essential facts. The five reasons stated are based on mistakes of fact which could have been put right if the Secretary-General had agreed to give him a hearing. In so holding the Tribunal is not interfering in the actual management of the organization. Because of those flaws his decision not to renew the complainant's appointment must be set aside."
Keywords:
contract; disregard of essential fact; fixed-term; flaw; grounds; mistake of fact; non-renewal of contract; satisfactory service;
Consideration 6
Extract:
"The decision whether or not to renew or convert is at the Secretary-General's discretion and the Tribunal's case law is that it will interfere only if such a decision was taken without authority".
Keywords:
contract; discretion; fixed-term; judicial review; non-renewal of contract;
Decision
Extract:
The decision not to renew the complainant's contract is set aside. The Tribunal holds that in the circumstances reinstatement would not be advisable. It orders the organization to pay the complainant the equivalent of two years' salary as damages for material injury, 25,000 Swiss francs for moral injury and 10,000 Swiss francs as costs.
Keywords:
amount; contract; costs; fixed-term; material damages; material injury; moral injury; non-renewal of contract;
Judgment 956
66th Session, 1989
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 2
Extract:
"The case law says that when authorised to refuse, without notice or compensation, to renew such an appointment the Director-General has discretion which he exercises subject to an implied requirement of respect for the demands of efficient administration and for the organization's interests. The rule consistently applied is that, short of replacing the Director-General's appraisal of the evidence with its own, the Tribunal will set aside a decision not to renew that was taken without authority [...]".
Keywords:
contract; discretion; fixed-term; judicial review; non-renewal of contract; organisation's interest;
Consideration 3
Extract:
"The Tribunal is satisfied that it was open to the Director-General to come to the view that what the complainant had done [import a firearm] was, to quote the letter of 14 May 1986, 'harmful to the FAO's good name in the host country' and, being behaviour unworthy of an international civil servant, had been contrary to Staff Regulation 301.014.
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: FAO STAFF REGULATION 301.014
Keywords:
conduct; contract; discretion; fitness for international civil service; fixed-term; misconduct; non-renewal of contract; organisation's reputation;
Judgment 954
66th Session, 1989
World Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 3
Extract:
"WHO Staff Rule 1050.1 allows termination of a staff member's temporary appointment before the date of expiry if the post he is on is abolished. Although the Director-General has discretion in deciding whether to do away with a post his decision is subject to review: the Tribunal will quash it if there has been breach of some procedural or formal rule [etc]".
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: WHO STAFF RULE 1050.1
Keywords:
abolition of post; contract; discretion; fixed-term; judicial review; termination of employment;
Judgment 946
65th Session, 1988
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 6
Extract:
"As a rule the reasons for any administrative decision must be stated. Non-renewal is plainly a decision of great consequence to a staff member and, though the Director-General is free to make his own assessment of the material facts, the staff member is entitled to know the reasons for the Director-General's conclusion so that he may, if he chooses, lodge first an internal appeal and then, if need be, a complaint with the Tribunal."
Keywords:
contract; decision; discretion; duty to substantiate decision; fixed-term; non-renewal of contract;
Consideration 11
Extract:
"There is no award of moral damages. Since the organization was applying a policy of staff retrenchment required by financial constraints, the non-renewal cannot be deemed to have harmed the complainant's professional reputation. Nor indeed does he offer any evidence of moral injury."
Keywords:
abolition of post; contract; evidence; fixed-term; lack of evidence; moral injury; non-renewal of contract; professional injury;
Consideration 7
Extract:
"The organization [is] in breach of the duty of consideration it owes its staff, of the principle of good faith and of the rule that the staff member has a right to be kept informed of any action that may affect his rights or legitimate interests."
Keywords:
contract; duty to inform; fixed-term; good faith; non-renewal of contract; organisation's duties;
Considerations 4-6
Extract:
"In this case the decision not to renew the complainant's appointment was tainted with several fatal flaws. First, the decision was not taken by the competent authority. [...] What was even more serious was the failure to inform the complainant of the reasons for the decision."
Keywords:
competence; contract; decision-maker; duty to substantiate decision; fixed-term; flaw; grounds; non-renewal of contract; right to reply;
Consideration 10
Extract:
"Since the complainant had served UNESCO for only four years and the renewal he might have expected would not have been for more than two years, the Tribunal sets the amount at the equivalent of six months' full pay at grade P.4 at the rate applicable at the date of his separation."
Keywords:
contract; damages; fixed-term; non-renewal of contract;
Consideration 9
Extract:
"The need for savings affords no proper excuse for breach of the principles that protect the staff against arbitrary decision-making."
Keywords:
abolition of post; budgetary reasons; contract; discretion; fixed-term; limits; non-renewal of contract;
Judgment 938
65th Session, 1988
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 12
Extract:
"A staff member cannot be separated while on sick leave."
Keywords:
contract; extension of contract; fixed-term; illness; non-renewal of contract; organisation's duties; sick leave; unsatisfactory service;
Judgment 901
64th Session, 1988
International Labour Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 2
Extract:
"Even where termination before expiry is due to the necessities of the service there must be explanation and justification of the decision because it amounts to unilateral breach of the contract. The Director-General does not then have the discretionary authority he may exercise on expiry and, for one thing, the Tribunal will consider whether the decision serves the organisation's interests, as it should."
Keywords:
contract; discretion; duty to substantiate decision; fixed-term; judicial review; organisation's interest; termination of employment;
Consideration 7
Extract:
The complainant was on mission when he was terminated as persona non grata. "There was no objective report on this case. [...] All this makes it plain that summary termination under 11.4 [of the Staff Regulations] was in breach of the complainant's right of reply and cannot stand."
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: ARTICLE 11.4 OF THE ILO STAFF REGULATIONS
Keywords:
contract; field; fixed-term; flaw; persona non grata; procedural flaw; project personnel; right to reply; termination of employment;
Judgment 896
64th Session, 1988
Intergovernmental Council of Copper Exporting Countries
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 8
Extract:
"When his post is abolished someone with a fixed-term appointment is ordinarily entitled to fair compensation or other redress. The amount and the manner of determining it will depend on the particular circumstances of the organisation and an assessment of the staff member's own situation, and seniority, record of service and the terms of his appointment. The decision must not be discriminatory or tainted with any other flaw."
Keywords:
abolition of post; amount; compensation; contract; elements; fixed-term; organisation's duties; terminal entitlements; termination of employment;
Judgment 894
64th Session, 1988
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 4
Extract:
"It is mistaken to contend that an appointment cannot be terminated until there has been a proper medical check-up as prescribed by the Rules. [...] In fact [the check-up] is the consequence of termination."
Keywords:
consequence; contract; fixed-term; medical examination; non-renewal of contract; organisation's duties; separation from service;
Judgment 892
64th Session, 1988
International Office of Epizootics
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 4
Extract:
The complainant challenges the non-renewal of her contract. She alleges breach of an oral promise of automatic renewal. But she offers no proof of the allegation. "Even supposing she were right and the head of personnel had said that fixed-term appointments were automatically renewed, there would not necessarily be a binding rule but just a common practice which would neither require the Director General to employ her nor confer on her any right to renewal."
Keywords:
contract; evidence; extension of contract; fixed-term; lack of evidence; non-renewal of contract; organisation's duties; practice; promise;
Consideration 8
Extract:
"Since the assessments of her varied, the Director General was free, in exercising his discretion in the Office's interest, to take account only of the factors that he thought ruled out renewal."
Keywords:
contract; different appraisals; discretion; executive head; fixed-term; non-renewal of contract; unsatisfactory service; work appraisal;
Judgment 891
64th Session, 1988
World Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 7
Extract:
"In the absence of a definition in the Rules the post, though it began as a post of limited duration, became one of indefinite duration when prolonged after the period for which it had been created."
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: ARTICLE 1050.2 OF WHO STAFF RULES
Keywords:
consequence; contract; definition; duration of appointment; extension of contract; fixed-term; no provision; permanent appointment; post; successive contracts;
Summary
Extract:
The complainant's post was abolished. The Tribunal held that, though given a limited-duration contract, the complainant held a post of indefinite duration which entitled him, under the material rules, to application of the reduction-in-force procedure.
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: ARTICLE 1050.2 OF WHO STAFF RULES
Keywords:
abolition of post; applicable law; contract; fixed-term; permanent appointment; post; procedure before the tribunal; right; staff reduction; termination of employment;
Judgment 873
63rd Session, 1987
Intergovernmental Council of Copper Exporting Countries
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 4
Extract:
"That an appointment still has time to run does not preclude abolition under [...] Staff Regulations."
Keywords:
abolition of post; contract; fixed-term; termination of employment;
Judgment 857
63rd Session, 1987
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Summary
Extract:
Some weeks before the expiry of her contract, the complainant had a heart attack. In accordance with the Staff Regulations, her appointment was extended on 1 September for the duration of her sick leave. After ascertaining that the complainant was fit to work, the FAO terminated her sick leave and, a few days later, her appointment. The complainant has failed to show any irregularity in the application by the Director-General of the rules on sick leave.
Keywords:
contract; extension of contract; fixed-term; flaw; illness; non-renewal of contract; sick leave;
Consideration 4
Extract:
"The Tribunal has said there must be reasonable notice of non-renewal, with due regard to the particular circumstances of each case. But she was well warned, for the first time orally over a year before expiry and in writing fifty days before, that her appointment would not be renewed."
Keywords:
contract; fixed-term; non-renewal of contract; notice; organisation's duties; reasonable time; time limit;
Summary
Extract:
The Tribunal observes that the non-renewal of the complainant's appointment was not tainted by any fatal flaw. The decision was taken by the Director-General at his discretion and was founded on inadequacies in the complainant's work and on the needs of the organization.
Keywords:
contract; discretion; fixed-term; non-renewal of contract; organisation's interest; unsatisfactory service;
Judgment 849
63rd Session, 1987
World Intellectual Property Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 3
Extract:
"The case law of the Tribunal supports the principle that when the Director General is granted authority not to renew a fixed-term appointment, and to do so without notice or indemnity, his power is discretionary and is subject to the implied condition that his authority must be exercised only for the good of the service and in the interests of the organization. The Tribunal has held that a decision not to renew a fixed-term contract taken in the exercise of this discretion is subject to review, but the consistent case law is that the Tribunal will interfere with the decision only if it was taken without authority, [...]".
Keywords:
contract; discretion; fixed-term; judicial review; non-renewal of contract;
Consideration 3
Extract:
"It appears from the evidence as a whole that the Director General's decision was not based on any inability of the complainant to carry out his duties, nor on the unsatisfactory performance by him of those duties, nor on any considerations relating to the necessities of the service or the interests of the organization. It is clear that the Director General's conclusion [...] that the complainant was guilty of serious misconduct constituted the sole and underlying reason for exercising his discretion as he did. The Tribunal has quashed that decision in Judgment 848 and holds that the impugned decision in the present proceedings, based solely on a conclusion which is wrong in law, constitutes an abuse of authority and cannot be allowed to stand."
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 848
Keywords:
abuse of power; contract; fixed-term; grounds; misrepresentation; misuse of authority; nationality; non-renewal of contract; serious misconduct;
Judgment 844
63rd Session, 1987
International Atomic Energy Agency
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 26
Extract:
"The failure of the complainant to find another position within the Agency cannot form the basis of a claim since Staff Rule 3.03.2[d] provides that a fixed-term appointment does not carry any expectation of renewal or of conversion to any other type of appointment. There is nothing to substantiate his allegation that his attempts to find other employment within the Agency were thwarted by the head of his section."
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: ARTICLE 3.03.2 OF THE IAEA STAFF RULES
Keywords:
contract; fixed-term; non-renewal of contract; organisation's duties; reassignment;
Consideration 27
Extract:
"In reaching his decision of 11 February 1987 the Director-General failed to take an essential fact into consideration, namely the degree of the Agency's own responsibility for the lack of information supplied initially to the complainant. While the paramount consideration in making or renewing appointments is to secure employees of the highest standard, it is not the only one. The principle of good faith requires that employees be treated with due regard for their rights. If the Director-General had considered the application in the light of the organisation's own responsibility for the complainant's difficulties when his contract was not renewed, he might have reached a different decision."
Keywords:
contract; disregard of essential fact; duty to inform; fixed-term; general principle; good faith; non-renewal of contract; organisation's duties; post description;
Judgment 756
59th Session, 1986
Pan American Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 2
Extract:
"The abolition was in fact just an expedient hurriedly found to put an end to the complainant's employment. That that is so is plain from evidence that shows the secretarial duties she had been performing were assigned to two others immediately after she left. Contrary to the telex sent to her on 21 August 1984 and informing her of the decision of 15 August, which said that her post was no longer considered necessary, in fact it was. the Tribunal accordingly holds that a mistaken and wrongful procedure was followed to end her contract and that the measure was therefore unlawful." The Tribunal orders the organization to reinstate the complainant.
Keywords:
abolition of post; abuse of power; contract; fixed-term; misuse of authority; reinstatement; termination of employment;
Judgment 703
57th Session, 1985
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 4
Extract:
"Though a seconded official holds a fixed-term appointment his position is out of the ordinary. He cannot expect his contract to last more than two years unless the organisations decide differently. But on leaving the receiving organisation he goes back to the releasing one [...] It is therefore only reasonable that either organisation should have the right to end the secondment if it so wishes on the expiry of the prescribed period without having to explain its decision."
Keywords:
consequence; contract; discretion; duty to substantiate decision; fixed-term; non-renewal of contract; organisation's duties; reinstatement; secondment;
Consideration 7
Extract:
"The alleged promises were not in writing, the FAO denies they were ever made and it is not proved that they were. Besides, to be enforceable, they would have had to be agreed to by both organisations".
Keywords:
condition; contract; extension of contract; fixed-term; non-renewal of contract; promise; secondment;
Consideration 9
Extract:
"The holder of a fixed-term appointment is entitled to know the date of separation early enough to enable him to arrange things."
Keywords:
contract; fixed-term; non-renewal of contract; notice; organisation's duties; reasonable time; secondment; time limit;
Judgment 698
57th Session, 1985
European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 10
Extract:
"The complainant submits that according to the Tribunal's case law the termination of secondment need not entail the termination of appointment in an international organisation. The plea is mistaken."
Keywords:
contract; fixed-term; non-renewal of contract; secondment; separation from service;
Judgment 688
57th Session, 1985
International Labour Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Summary
Extract:
The complainant has been employed under fixed-term contracts since 1976. He claims to be entitled to an appointment of indeterminate duration by virtue of national legislation. The Tribunal will not rule on the applicability of national legislation. It limits itself to noting that if national legislation is applicable, the Tribunal has no power of review and if it is not applicable, the Tribunal must examine the alleged breaches of Staff Regulations by the organisation; it finds no evidence of a breach.
Keywords:
competence of tribunal; contract; domestic law; fixed-term; permanent appointment; right; successive contracts;
Judgment 675
56th Session, 1985
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Summary
Extract:
Having served the organization since 1969, the complainant was seconded for two years to the UNDP in 1980. In 1982 the organization decided not to extend the appointment or the secondment. The Tribunal holds that the organization committed an error of law by assuming that a fixed-term appointment expires automatically on the specified expiration date, and an abuse of power for having terminated the complainant without stating its reasons. The award of damages reflects the especially grave moral injury sustained by the complainant.
Keywords:
abuse of power; contract; discretion; duty to substantiate decision; fixed-term; flaw; legitimate expectation; misuse of authority; moral injury; non-renewal of contract; secondment;
Judgment 665
56th Session, 1985
World Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 1
Extract:
"Renewal of an appointment is a discretionary decision. Although the rule provides for automatic expiry in the absence of offer and acceptance of an extension of contract, the decision is still subject to review by the Tribunal, which will set it aside if there was a formal or procedural flaw, or a mistake of fact or of law, or if essential facts were overlooked, or if there was abuse of authority, or if clearly mistaken conclusions were drawn from the evidence."
Keywords:
contract; discretion; fixed-term; judicial review; non-renewal of contract;
Summary
Extract:
The reason given for non-renewal of the complainant's contract was unsatisfactory performance. The evaluation report for 1981 was signed long after the time limit laid down in the Staff Rules. Only a few weeks elapsed between the completion of the 1981 report and the processing of the 1982 report. As a result, the impugned decision took no account of the fact that between the complainant's two last performance reports he was not given time to add his objections or to show he could come up to expectation. The decision overlooked an essential fact and drew clearly mistaken conclusions from the evidence. The complainant is entitled to damages.
Keywords:
administrative delay; contract; disregard of essential fact; fixed-term; flaw; material damages; mistaken conclusion; moral injury; non-renewal of contract; performance report; right to reply; time limit; unsatisfactory service;
