Judgment No. 3892
Decision
The complaint is dismissed.
Summary
The complainant contends that no final decision has yet been taken on her internal appeal.
Judgment keywords
Keywords
summary procedure; complaint dismissed
Consideration 4
Extract:
According to firm precedent, a complaint filed directly with the Tribunal is irreceivable unless the complainant shows that the requirement to exhaust internal remedies has had the effect of paralysing the exercise of her or his rights. It is only then that she or he is permitted to come directly to the Tribunal where the competent bodies are not able to determine an internal appeal within a reasonable time, depending on the circumstances (see, for example, Judgment 3558, under 9).
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 3558
Keywords
exception; summary procedure; failure to exhaust internal remedies
Consideration 5
Extract:
The circumstances of this case are not such that the exercise of the complainant’s right of appeal can be said to be paralysed. The Tribunal recognises that its finding in Judgments 3694 and 3785 that the composition of the Appeals Committee was unlawful is liable to have repercussions on many other decisions taken by the EPO’s appointing authorities on internal appeals, in addition to the decisions impugned in the complaints leading to those judgments. However, the necessary reorganisation of the Appeals Committee’s workload that this will entail, which, in view of the number of appeals concerned, can be expected to take some time, has not paralysed the exercise of the complainant’s rights.
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 3694, 3785
Keywords
delay in internal procedure
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