Judgment No. 4049
Decision
The complaint is dismissed, as is the EPO’s counterclaim for costs.
Summary
The complainant challenges the composition of the Appeals Committee which issued the opinion on the basis of which the impugned decision was taken.
Judgment keywords
Keywords
composition of the internal appeals body; complaint dismissed
Considerations 5-6
Extract:
The Tribunal’s examination is limited to considering the provision in force at the material time [...].
At the material time, Article 5 of the Implementing Rules concerning the appointment of members of the Appeals Committee provided for the appointment of full members and alternate members.
The Tribunal is satisfied that two of the four members were appointed by the President [...] and two were chosen “[b]y way of exception” among eligible staff members [...], and considers that the Committee’s balanced composition was guaranteed in accordance with the provisions of Article 36(2)(a) of the Service Regulations, which are not ambiguous. The Appeals Committee was competent to rule on the legality of its composition, which is a condition for its competence. The Appeals Committee’s decision to apply the summary procedure was a proper exercise of its power of evaluation.
Keywords
composition of the internal appeals body
Consideration 1
Extract:
The claim raised by the complainant that the Appeals Committee, which, by a summary procedure, in accordance with Article 9 of the Implementing Rules for Articles 106 to 113 of the Service Regulations, unanimously recommended rejecting his appeal as
manifestly irreceivable, was improperly constituted is a threshold issue. One member of the Appeals Committee issued a concurring opinion in which he agreed with the findings and conclusions of the other members, except with respect to the issue of the composition of the Appeals Committee.
Keywords
composition of the internal appeals body
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