Judgment No. 3568

• Organization: European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol)
• Date: 03.02.2016
• Original: French
• Judges: Rouiller, Frydman, Diakité
• Full judgment text - Full judgment text (french)

Decision

The complaints are dismissed, as are Eurocontrol’s couterclaims.

Summary

Following an administrative reform at Eurocontrol, the complainants challenge the rejection of their requests for reclassification.

Judgment keywords

Reference(s)

ILOAT Judgment(s): 3275

Keywords

joinder; post classification; complaint dismissed

Consideration 5

Extract:

"Eurocontrol asked that two of the complainants [...] be ordered to bear “the full costs of the proceedings” if they did not withdraw their respective complaints.
The Tribunal may indeed award costs against the authors of frivolous, vexatious and repeated complaints which absorb its resources and those of the defendant organisations and hamper the Tribunal’s ability to deal expeditiously with other complaints. Any such award must, however, remain exceptional, since it is essential that international civil servants’ access to an independent and impartial judicial body is not impeded by the prospect of an adverse award of costs if their complaint were to prove unfounded (see Judgments 1962, under 4, and 3196, under 7).
It is true that, in the instant case, the complaints have been maintained despite the fact that there has been no change in the situation which led the Tribunal to dismiss the complainants’ claims in a judgment carrying res judicata authority. Although this case is on the borderline of what is acceptable in this respect, the Tribunal considers that, in the circumstances, it is not justified to allow Eurocontrol’s counterclaims that the two complainants in question should be ordered to pay costs."

Reference(s)

ILOAT Judgment(s): 1962, 3196

Keywords

counterclaim