Judgment No. 2671
Decision
1. The decision of the Administrative Council of 5 July 2006 is set aside.
2. The case is remitted to the Administrative Council for a new decision to be taken after consulting a differently constituted Appeals Committee.
3. The EPO shall pay the complainant 2,000 euros by way of moral damages,
and a further 2,000 euros by way of costs.
4. The complaint is otherwise dismissed.
Consideration 11
Extract:
"In Judgment 1317, under 31, the Tribunal stated: 'An internal appeal procedure that works properly is an important safeguard of staff rights and social harmony in an international organisation [...].'
The notion of 'working well' necessarily encompasses the requirement that the members of an internal appeal body should not only be impartial and objective in fact, but that they should so conduct themselves and be so circumstanced that a reasonable person in possession of the facts would not think otherwise. In this last regard, it is necessary only to observe that staff confidence in internal appeal procedures is essential to the workings of all international organisations and to preventing disputes from going outside those organisations."
Reference(s)
Jugement(s) TAOIT: 1317
Keywords
internal appeals body; internal appeal; organisation's duties; bias; composition of the internal appeals body
Consideration 12
Extract:
"A reasonable person, knowing that a member of the Appeals Committee had already expressed a concluded view as to the merits of the appeal being considered, would not think that that member would bring an impartial and objective mind to the issues involved. So much was decided in Judgment 179 in which it was said that 'failing any explicit provision in the regulations and rules, the [members] concerned are bound to withdraw if they have already expressed their views on the issue in such a way as to cast doubt on their impartiality'. [...] It follows that those persons who had been members of the first Appeals Committee were disqualified from membership of the second Committee."
Reference(s)
Jugement(s) TAOIT: 179
Keywords
internal appeals body; recusal; internal appeal; bias; conflict of interest; composition of the internal appeals body
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