Rules of the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organization
I. ORGANIZATION
Article 1
1. The Tribunal shall elect a President and a Vice-President.
2. Election shall be by vote of the majority of its members, any who cannot attend for the purpose being entitled to vote by correspondence.
3. The President shall direct its proceedings and represent it in all administrative matters.
4. If the President is unable to act, the Vice-President or, if the Vice-President is unable to act, the senior judge shall exercise the functions of President at and between sessions.
Article 2
The Tribunal shall have a Registry led by a Registrar. The Registrar and the officials of the Registry are appointed by the Director-General of the International Labour Office. The Registrar designates the official who can act in her or his place during her or his absence.
Article 3
1. The Tribunal shall hold sessions whenever the caseload so warrants.
2. The President shall set and may amend the dates of each session of the Tribunal and shall invite members to attend for such period as she or he determines.
II. PROCEDURE
Article 4
1. A complaint filed against an organization which has recognized the jurisdiction of the Tribunal and any communication relating to such complaint shall be addressed to the President through the Registrar.
2. For the purpose of determining whether the time limits in paragraphs 2 and 3 of article VII of the Statute have been complied with, the Tribunal shall take into account the date of filing of the complaint at the Registry or the date of dispatch, provided that in the event of doubt about the date of dispatch it shall take into account the date of receipt at the Registry.
Article 5
1. The complainant may plead her or his own case or appoint for the purpose a representative who shall be a serving or former official of an organization which has recognized the Tribunal's jurisdiction or of the United Nations, or a member of a bar in a Member State of one of those organizations, or, with leave from the President, someone who is qualified to deal with issues relating to the international civil service.
2. The complainant's representative shall provide, in English or French, a power of attorney.
3. The defendant organization's representative shall be one of its own serving or former officials, or a serving or former official of another organization which has recognized the Tribunal's jurisdiction or of the United Nations, or a member of a bar in a Member State of one of those organizations, or, with leave from the President, someone who is qualified to deal with issues relating to the international civil service.
4. Where the defendant organization's representative is not a serving or former official, it shall provide, in English or French, a power of attorney.
Article 6
1. The complainant or the complainant's representative shall:
(a) complete in English or French and sign the complaint form prescribed in Annex 1 to these Rules;
(b) append thereto a brief in the same language stating the facts of the case and the pleas and the original or a certified copy or transcript of any item of evidence adduced in support;
(c) append to any text which is not in English or French a certified translation into the language chosen in accordance with (a); and
(d) supply five copies of the complaint form, the brief and any appended item of evidence and certify them by signature to be true.
2. If not satisfied that the complaint meets the requirements of these Rules, the Registrar shall call upon the complainant or the complainant's representative to correct it within thirty days and may where appropriate return the papers for the purpose.
3. If satisfied that the complaint meets the requirements of these Rules, the Registrar shall forward one copy to the defendant organization.
4. The language chosen in accordance with paragraph 1(a) shall be used in any subsequent written pleadings.
Article 7
1. If the President considers a complaint to be clearly irreceivable or devoid of merit, she or he may instruct the Registrar to forward it to the defendant organization for information only.
2. When it takes up such complaint the Tribunal may either dismiss it summarily as clearly irreceivable or devoid of merit or else order that the procedure prescribed below shall be followed.
Article 7bis
If the dispute regards only a question (or questions) of law, identified by agreement of both parties, and the main facts are uncontested, the parties may agree, at any time prior to the assignment of the complaint to a Tribunal session, to apply to the President of the Tribunal for a fast-track procedure. The parties must submit their pleadings as prescribed in Articles 6, 8 and 9 of these Rules, and in accordance with Article VII of the Statute and the additional provisions set forth in Annex 2 to these Rules. All pleadings shall be brief and shall focus on the agreed contested question(s) of law and on the consequent remedies, and include the succinct statement of the reason(s) supporting the opinion(s) advanced. Attachments to the application(s) shall be limited to documents directly related to the question(s) of law.
Article 7ter
1. A complainant or intervener who wishes to request anonymity may do so at the time when the complaint or application to intervene is filed. The reasons for this request must be specified.
2. The request for anonymity shall be forwarded to the defendant organization for comment within a period of time to be determined by the President of the Tribunal.
3. The Tribunal may grant a request for anonymity where disclosure of the identity of the complainant or intervener in a judgment is likely to be seriously prejudicial to that person’s interests.
Article 8
1. In any case which is not dealt with in accordance with Articles 7(1) and 7bis of these Rules, the defendant organization shall dispatch its reply to the Registrar within thirty days of the date of receipt of the complaint.
2. It shall:
(a) append to its reply the original or a certified copy or transcript of any item of evidence adduced in support;
(b) append to any text which is not in English or French a certified translation into the language chosen in accordance with Article 6(1)(a) of these Rules; and
(c) supply five copies of its reply and of any appended item of evidence and certify them by the signature of its representative to be true.3. If it files no reply within the time limit, the written pleadings shall close.
Article 9
1. If satisfied that the defendant organization's reply meets the requirements of these Rules, the Registrar shall forward one copy to the complainant or to the complainant's representative, who may file a rejoinder within thirty days of the date of receipt of the reply.
2. If no rejoinder is filed within the time limit, the written pleadings shall close.
3. If a rejoinder is filed, the Registrar shall forward one copy to the defendant organization, which may file a surrejoinder within thirty days of the date of receipt of the rejoinder.
4. If no surrejoinder is filed within the time limit, the written pleadings shall close.
5. If a surrejoinder is filed, the Registrar shall forward one copy to the complainant or to the complainant's representative.
6. The President may, on her or his own motion or on the application of either party, order the submission of a further written statement or document and may set the time limit for such submission.
7. The complainant or her or his representative shall supply with the rejoinder and with any further written statement or document, and the defendant organization shall supply with the surrejoinder and with any further written statement or document:
(a) a certified translation into the language chosen in accordance with Article 6(1)(a) of these Rules of any text which is not in English or French; and
(b) five certified copies of all submissions.
Article 10
1. When the President considers the pleadings to be sufficient, she or he shall instruct the Registrar to put the complaint on the list of a session of the Tribunal.
2. The Registrar shall inform the parties before the opening of that session of the inclusion of the complaint in the list and of the dates of the session.
3. The Tribunal or, between sessions, the President shall rule on an application by either party for a stay of proceedings or for the adjournment of a listed case to a later session.
III. OTHER MATTERS
Article 11
1. The Tribunal may, on its own motion or on the application of either party, order such measures of investigation as it deems fit, including the appearance of the parties before it, the hearing of expert and other witnesses, the consultation of any competent international authority, and expert inquiry.
2. Any measure of investigation may be by letters rogatory if the Tribunal or, between sessions, the President so orders.
Article 12
1. An application by either party for hearings shall identify any witness whom that party wants the Tribunal to hear and the issues which the party wants the witness to address.
2. The Tribunal shall determine the conduct of any hearings.
3. Hearings shall include oral submissions by the parties and may, with leave from the Tribunal, include oral testimony by any witness.
4. A witness shall make the following declaration before giving evidence:
"I solemnly declare that I shall speak without hatred and without fear, and shall speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."
5. An expert witness shall make the same declaration as any other witness and shall then make the following further declaration:
"I solemnly declare that I shall give evidence to the best of my knowledge and belief."
Article 13
1. Anyone to whom the Tribunal is open under article II of the Statute may apply to intervene in a complaint requesting that the Tribunal's ruling on the complaint apply to them. The application must set out the basis on which the intervener considers that she or he is in a situation in fact and in law similar to that of the complainant.
2. An organization which has recognized the Tribunal's jurisdiction may intervene in a complaint on the grounds that the ruling which the Tribunal is to make may affect it.
3. The Tribunal or, between sessions, the President may instruct the Registrar to give notice of a complaint to any third party if it appears that such third party may want to make submissions.
4. To be receivable, an application to intervene shall be delivered at the Registry no later than sixty days before the opening of the session for which the complaint is listed.
Article 14
The Tribunal or, between sessions, the President may shorten or lengthen any time limit set in accordance with these Rules.
Article 15
The President may between sessions make provisional orders, without prejudice to the ultimate ruling by the Tribunal on the parties' rights, on an application by either party for measures to establish the existence of any fact that is material to the dispute.
Article 16
The President may, by means of an Order, record the withdrawal of a complaint after giving the opposing party an opportunity to comment on the request to withdraw.
Article 17
The Tribunal shall, in exercise of the powers vested in it by article X of the Statute, deal with any matter which these Rules do not expressly provide for.
Article 18
These Rules shall come into force on 1 May 1994.
The complaint form referred to in Article 6(1)(a) of these Rules shall consist of questions under the following five heads:
1. The complainant.
2. The defendant organization.
3. The impugned decision.
4. The pleadings (brief, relief claimed, supporting documents).
5. Special applications.
The complaint form may be obtained from the Registrar.
ANNEX 2
The additional provisions referred to in Article 7bis of these Rules are as follows:
1. (a) If the complainant wishes to apply for a fast-track procedure, she or he may do so within thirty days of the notification of the impugned decision (or within thirty days as from the expiry of the sixty-day time limit of article VII, paragraph 3, of the Statute) by sending to the Registrar a fully completed complaint form and indicating in section 5 (“Special Applications”) under the heading “Fast-track Procedure” the question(s) of law which the complainant proposes to submit to the Tribunal for a decision under this procedure. The Registrar shall forward a copy of this submission to the defendant organization which shall notify the Registrar in writing within thirty days of receipt whether it accepts or declines the proposal.(b) If the defendant organization rejects the proposal, the Registrar shall notify the complainant that the regular procedure shall be followed and instruct her or him to submit a full complaint, in accordance with Article 6 of these Rules, within sixty days from the notification of this rejection.
(c) If the defendant organization accepts the proposal, the Registrar shall instruct the complainant to submit her or his brief under the fast-track procedure within thirty days from the notification of this acceptance. The brief shall include a concise summary of the pertinent facts, the list of supporting documents and any appended item of evidence. The defendant organization shall dispatch its reply to the Registrar within thirty days of the date of receipt of this submission.
2. If a rejoinder and surrejoinder are submitted, Articles 9 and 10 of these Rules shall apply. The submissions shall be succinct and must comply with the provisions of Article 7bis of these Rules.
3. If, after receiving a copy of a complaint in accordance with Article 6 of these Rules, the defendant organization wishes to submit a proposal to apply for a fast-track procedure, it may do so by sending a letter to the Registrar within fifteen days from the date of receipt of the complaint. The letter shall contain a proposal identifying the contested question(s) of law, and a concise summary of the facts. The Registrar shall forward a copy of the letter to the complainant who shall notify the Registrar in writing of her or his acceptance or rejection of this proposal within thirty days of its receipt. If the complainant rejects the proposal, the Registrar shall instruct the defendant organization to submit its reply, in accordance with Article 8 of these Rules, within thirty days of the notification of this rejection. If the complainant accepts the proposal, the Registrar shall instruct the defendant organization to submit its reply under the fast-track procedure, in accordance with Article 7bis of these Rules, within thirty days of the communication of this acceptance.
4. If, after receiving a copy of the reply or rejoinder in accordance with Article 8 or 9 of these Rules, a party wishes to submit a proposal to apply for a fast-track procedure, they shall do so within fifteen days from the date of receipt of the reply or rejoinder by sending a letter to the Registrar. The letter shall contain the proposal for agreement on the identification of the contested question(s) of law, and on the consequent remedies, and a concise summary of the facts. The Registrar shall forward a copy of the letter to the other party who shall accept or reject this proposal within thirty days of receipt by notifying the Registrar in writing. If the other party rejects the proposal, the Registrar shall notify the requesting party to submit its rejoinder or surrejoinder, in accordance with Article 9 of these Rules, within thirty days of the notification of the non-acceptance of the proposal. If the other party accepts the proposal, the Registrar shall notify the requesting party to submit its fast-track procedure rejoinder or surrejoinder, in accordance with Article 7bis of these Rules within thirty days of the notification of the acceptance of the proposal.
5. Parties who have already concluded their pleadings in accordance with these Rules, but whose case has not yet been included on the list of a session of the Tribunal, may apply for a fast-track procedure by submitting a letter to the Registrar, specifying that they have a case pending. The letter shall contain the agreement (or the proposal for agreement) on the identification of the contested question(s) of law, and a concise summary of the facts. If both parties agree to the application for a fast-track procedure, they must then each submit a summary of their pleadings. The pleadings shall be brief and shall focus on the agreed contested question(s) of law and on the consequent remedies, and include the succinct reason(s) supporting the opinions advanced. Attachments to the applications shall be limited to documents which directly relate to the contested question(s) of law. Their prior submissions shall be replaced by the summarized fast-track procedure submissions.6. If the Registrar considers that the requirements for the fast-track procedure have been fulfilled, she or he shall forward the complaint to the President for approval. If the approval is given, the complaint shall be given priority and, if possible, be put on the list for the next session of the Tribunal. The Tribunal shall render a succinct decision under this fast-track procedure.