Judgment No. 4003
Decision
1. The ICC shall pay the complainant moral damages in the amount of 200,000 euros.
2. It shall pay Mr P. L. moral damages in the amount of 140,000 euros.
3. It shall pay 20,000 euros in costs to the complainant and 500 euros in costs to Mr P. L.
4. All other claims are dismissed.
5. Mr K.’s application to intervene is dismissed.
Summary
The complainant seeks compensation for damages related to her arrest and detention in Libya while on an official mission.
Judgment keywords
Keywords
complaint allowed; official travel; service-incurred; compensation
Consideration 11
Extract:
The Tribunal finds that the written submissions are sufficient to reach a reasoned decision, and, therefore, it shall not order oral hearings.
Keywords
oral proceedings
Consideration 12
Extract:
The application to intervene of Mr P. L. is allowed insofar as it relates to the claim of breach of the organization’s duty of care and was accepted by the ICC. Mr K.’s application to intervene is rejected as he is not in a similar situation in fact and in law to that of the complainant, inasmuch as the complainant filed a timely claim for compensation whereas Mr K. did not.
Keywords
intervention
Consideration 13
Extract:
With regard to the ICC’s objections to receivability, the Tribunal finds that the claim regarding retaliation is receivable. The complainant had raised the question in her request for review and in her internal appeal, and it was considered by the Appeals Board in its report. Thus, the complainant has exhausted all internal means of redress.
Keywords
internal remedies exhausted
Consideration 15
Extract:
The Tribunal finds that the reasons given in the [...] decision to reject the complainant’s claim for compensation were not supported by the evidence. Moreover, the Registrar relied on documents to which he refused to give the complainant access, while mischaracterizing the findings of those documents in a clear breach of her due process rights. He also misinformed the complainant that he had been ordered to destroy the consultant’s report and therefore could not give her a copy while knowing full well that the disclosure of the report to the complainant had already been approved. This constitutes an act of bad faith. The Registrar’s correspondence with the complainant shows that he repeatedly threatened her with charges of misconduct and possible disciplinary action unless she accepted the ICC’s offer during conciliation proceedings. This was an abuse of power and further evidence of bad faith.
Keywords
confidential evidence; disclosure of evidence; misuse of authority; bad faith; abuse of power
Consideration 16
Extract:
The Tribunal recognizes that the complainant’s ordeal in Libya was a direct result of the ICC’s failure to properly prepare for the mission, specifically, its failure to: (a) establish a diplomatic basis by ensuring that a Memorandum of Understanding was established and/or Notes Verbales were exchanged with the Libyan authorities prior to the mission’s initiation; (b) establish a mission plan which identified the objectives of the mission, the locations to visit and persons to be met, as well as naming the Head of Mission and clarifying the specific responsibilities of the team members; and (c) ensure that all security protocols were followed and advice was implemented to guarantee the safety and security of the staff members on mission. For these failures, and taking into consideration the damage suffered by the complainant and Mr P. L. during their period of confinement, the Tribunal awards moral damages in the amount of 140,000 euros to each of them. This amount addresses the damage to their psychological well-being as well as to their public and private relations – due to the stress, and difficulties in traveling, due to the ongoing charges against them in Libya and the defamation of their characters which would have been mitigated if the ICC had issued a statement asserting their innocence immediately instead of waiting until the Libyan accusations had been widely publicized.
Keywords
moral injury; official travel; security measures
Consideration 18
Extract:
Since the complainant succeeds, she is entitled to an award of costs, as is Mr P. L., whose application to intervene is allowed. The Tribunal sets the award of costs for Mr P. L. at 500 euros as he was not represented by a lawyer and did not need to provide extensive submissions in his application to intervene. The complainant, considering the complexity of the case, is awarded costs in the amount of 20,000 euros.
Keywords
intervention; costs; costs awarded
Consideration 17
Extract:
The complainant was [...] subjected to continuous mistreatment by the Registrar in the period following her return from Libya. This behaviour amounts to abuse of power, bad faith and retaliation and warrants an additional award of moral damages which the Tribunal sets in the amount of 60,000 euros. The Tribunal finds that this is not a case for exemplary damages, particularly in view of the considerable efforts made by the ICC to secure the release of the complainant and her colleagues when they were detained in Libya.
Keywords
misuse of authority; abuse of power
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