Judgment No. 3117
Decision
1. The EPO shall pay the complainant damages in the amount of 4,000 euros for the delay in processing his request and in the internal appeal procedure.
2. The complaint is otherwise dismissed.
Judgment keywords
Keywords
complaint allowed; pension; transfer of pension rights
Considerations 10-11
Extract:
The complainant [...] submits that the decision [...] breached the principle of due process in that it was taken on the basis of information which had not previously been brought to his attention. In this connexion the Tribunal notes that, when an international organisation examines a request submitted by a staff member, it is not bound to inform that person of all the steps which it is taking in that respect. On the other hand, in that or any other situation, it does have a duty to provide the person concerned with any items of information which might have a bearing on the outcome of his/her claims (see Judgments 1815, under 5, or 2315, under 27 ). [...]
However, according to the Tribunal's case law, failure to disclose an item of information will in any case not render a decision unlawful where this flaw has been remedied in the course of an internal appeal procedure or of proceedings before the Tribunal (see, for example, Judgments 301, under 2, 1815, under 4 and 5, or 2558, under 5(a)), and that is precisely what occurred in this case since [...] a copy of the email in question was forwarded to the complainant at the same time as the disputed decision, with the result that he was duly enabled to challenge its content during the internal appeal proceedings.
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 301, 1815, 2315, 2558
Keywords
delay; due process; duty to inform; motivation; delay in internal procedure
Consideration 26
Extract:
As the Tribunal repeatedly stated, it is incumbent upon international organisations to take all the requisite steps to ensure that requests presented by their officials are examined with acceptable promptness and that internal appeals procedures move forward with reasonable speed ( see, for example, Judgments 2197, under 33, 2904, under 15, or 3016, under 9 ).
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 2197, 2904, 3016
Keywords
delay in internal procedure
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