Judgment 1646
83rd Session, 1997
International Telecommunication Union
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 11
Extract:
"The defendant contends on the strength of the complainant's personal file and his supervisors' reports on his conduct and performance that he was not up to the job anyway. That is neither here nor there. The Union has neglected the cardinal rule of any process of selection: the chosen candidate must have at least the qualifications stipulated in the notice."
Keywords:
appointment; candidate; competition; criteria; due process; organisation's duties; personal file; procedure before the tribunal; qualifications; vacancy notice;
Judgment 1600
82nd Session, 1997
European Patent Organisation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 10
Extract:
"If a decision to promote is taken against the Board's advice and on the basis of considerations other than ability and the record of performance, as prescribed in Article 49(7) of the Service Regulations, then fairness and impartiality can no longer be ensured. The reasons given for the impugned decisions are inappropriate for the promotion procedure established by Article 49 and amount to denial of the equal treatment the complainants were entitled to."
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: ARTICLE 49(7) OF THE EPO SERVICE REGULATIONS
Keywords:
criteria; equal treatment; performance report; personal file; promotion; promotion board; qualifications; safeguard; staff member's interest; staff regulations and rules;
Judgment 1371
77th Session, 1994
Pan American Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 6
Extract:
The complainant's "appraisal reports contain adverse comment by his supervisors, especially on his lack of initiative, and there is no evidence before the Tribunal to suggest that their views were not honestly held or were prejudiced. He was given a proper opportunity to comment on those views and his comments form part of the reports. In the circumstances the Tribunal disallows his application for the removal of them from his personal file."
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 1317
Keywords:
bias; good faith; lack of injury; performance report; personal file; right to reply; supervisor; unsatisfactory service; work appraisal;
Judgment 1260
75th Session, 1993
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 6
Extract:
The complainant wants the Tribunal to order the removal of a mention in his file after he turned down the offer of a post which allegedly puts an "obstacle" on his name to get jobs from the organization. The organization contends that it has not had any contractual ties with the complainant since a short contract it gave him some time ago, and it points out that his present claims have no bearing on that contract. "The Tribunal's competence is restricted under Article II(5) of its Statute to hearing complaints alleging the non-observance, in substance or in form, of the terms of appointment of an official or of provisions of the organisation's Staff Regulations. The complaint fails because the Tribunal lacks competence to entertain it."
Reference(s)
ILOAT reference: ARTICLE II(5) OF THE STATUTE
Keywords:
competence of tribunal; complaint; contract; iloat statute; locus standi; non official; personal file; receivability of the complaint; staff regulations and rules;
Judgment 1179
73rd Session, 1992
World Intellectual Property Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 4
Extract:
The complainant wishes to have three allegedly damaging memoranda removed from his personal file. "There is no reason to have them struck from his [...] file. First, they merely bear witness to his attitude at a particular time, and he had an opportunity of discussing them with the authors and to question what they said: there was therefore no breach of his right to a hearing. Secondly, and above all, they afforded the basis for the reservation about his conduct in his periodical report and were essential to an understanding of the context in which the report was written."
Keywords:
conduct; performance report; personal file; right to reply;
Judgment 1135
72nd Session, 1992
European Patent Organisation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 10
Extract:
The complainant is challenging the inclusion in his personal file of correspondence which he submits has no place there. The Tribunal holds that "the make-up of the file is subject to formal rules calculated to guard against the filing throughout the staff member's career of documents about his conduct which have not been drawn up with due regard to elementary safeguards of his rights."
Keywords:
application for quashing; elements; personal file;
Judgment 887
64th Session, 1988
European Patent Organisation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations 8-9
Extract:
Certainty of the position in law requires the complainant to state clearly what it is he wants. The Tribunal observes that in both his internal appeal and the present complaint, the complainant has failed to indicate the specific documents or type of document he wished to have included in his personal file. Nor has he made clear the reasons for his action. In the present state of the dossier, his complaint is an abuse of the right of appeal under the Statute of the Tribunal.
Keywords:
cause of action; complaint; elements; no cause of action; personal file; receivability of the complaint; vague claim; vexatious complaint;
Judgment 614
53rd Session, 1984
International Labour Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 5
Extract:
The complainant claims to have received unequal treatment. He invites the Tribunal to order disclosure of another staff member's personnel file for comparison with his own, along with the file on the grading of his post. "The ILO objects to disclosing another official's records to the complainant but is willing to let the Tribunal see them."
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 564, 565
Keywords:
confidential evidence; disclosure of evidence; equal treatment; personal file; post classification; request by a party;
Judgment 557
50th Session, 1983
International Labour Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations 3(E) and 4(E)
Extract:
The complainant is seeking the disclosure of the appraisals of his colleagues. According to the Staff Regulations, "personal files shall be confidential. This provision is in the legitimate interests of staff members and its validity is beyond dispute. The complainant may not obtain the disclosure of the appraisal reports on his colleagues, which form part of their personal files."
Keywords:
confidential evidence; disclosure of evidence; personal file; request by a party;
Judgment 403
43rd Session, 1980
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 18
Extract:
The Director-General issued the complainant, the chairman of a staff association not recognised by the organization, instructions concerning time off in two memoranda. The Tribunal believes that the Director drew clearly erroneous conclusions from the dossier. By way of relief the complainant asks for the withdrawal of the documents mentioned from her file. "The Tribunal considers that in this case the quashing of the decision will afford all the relief necessary."
Keywords:
application for quashing; mistaken conclusion; personal file; staff representative; staff union; time off; warning;
Judgment 379
42nd Session, 1979
European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations
Extract:
The complainant requests compensation for missing documents. The Tribunal, without deciding on the receivability of the complaint or whether the organisation was at fault, notes that the organisation "has not caused him any material or moral prejudice entitling him to compensation. In any event, therefore, the complaint must be dismissed."
Keywords:
complainant; disclosure of evidence; lack of injury; personal file; request by a party;
Judgment 330
39th Session, 1977
International Patent Institute
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 1
Extract:
The complainant seeks disclosure of "'documents in his file which may have prompted his exclusion'. [...] For want of clearer information the Tribunal supposes that the documents the complainant means are his performance reports, but since he himself signed them he must have been fully aware of their contents."
Keywords:
cause of action; complainant; disclosure of evidence; no cause of action; personal file; request by a party; vague claim;
Judgment 284
37th Session, 1976
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 3
Extract:
The complainant seeks the removal of a minute which "consists of the supervisor's comments on the complainant's minute of appeal from the decision to with hold his increment. These memoranda were properly placed in the complainant's confidential personnel file in accordance with [the relevant Manual provision]. Under [that provision] the complainant is entitled to receive copies of them and he has in fact had copies. There is no rule authorising their removal on the ground that they are detrimental."
Keywords:
confidential evidence; elements; personal file;
Judgment 256
34th Session, 1975
International Labour Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 5
Extract:
Under the Staff Regulations, "any other documents relating to measures officially taken or considered in connection with the official" may be placed in an official's personal file. The text is ambiguous. Narrow construction: measures which give rise to rights or duties. Broader construction: all measures which may affect a staff member. "Literal interpretation not being conclusive, it is necessary to consider the purpose of the [provision] in order to determine its true meaning. [...] Its purpose is to make available information on the professional situation of each staff member." Thus the proper construction is "documents which affect his professional situation."
Keywords:
criteria; elements; interpretation; personal file; purpose;
Consideration 2
Extract:
The material provision "provides for the establishment for each official of a personal file which shall be confidential. The confidential character of the file does not, however, apply to information which, though it may be deduced from the personal file, may be as readily obtained from other sources such as publications of the organisation or public records." In the present case the information given, even if it might also have been found in the complainant's personal file, was not confidential within the meaning of the provision in question.
Keywords:
confidential evidence; criteria; definition; personal file; publication;
Consideration 4
Extract:
The material provision "provides for the establishment of personal files and gives staff members access at any time to information on their professional situation and in particular reports on their work performance. It also has the purpose of keeping the competent bodies [of the organisation] informed on each staff member's career. Since the provisions were adopted in the interests of staff members as well as of the organisation, it is open to the complainant to allege a breach."
Keywords:
career; organisation's interest; personal file; purpose; staff member's interest; work appraisal;
Consideration 3
Extract:
"In certain circumstances information which third parties seek from the organisation about its officials may be used to the prejudice of the latter. Hence, in its capacity as an employer bound to safeguard the lawful interests of its staff members insofar as is compatible with its own interests and those of third parties, the organisation is as a rule bound to inform its staff members of requests for information about them before answering such requests, in particular to enable staff members to prevent the injurious effects of using the information divulged."
Keywords:
communication to third party; duty to inform; organisation; organisation's duties; personal file;
Consideration 1
Extract:
The complainant attacks the issue of an attestation containing details of his recruitment and his private life to the lawyer of his former wife. The Tribunal rules that this is indeed a decision but in order for the claim to be receivable, the complainant "must [...] have an interest which is worth safeguarding. On that score there is no doubt."
Keywords:
cause of action; communication to third party; personal file; receivability of the complaint;
Consideration 3
Extract:
The organisation provided a third party with an attestation on the complainant's recruitment and private life. "[I]n failing to inform the complainant of the request for information about him the organisation failed to perform a duty by which it was bound [...] The fact that the attestation contained only information which had been published or was a matter of public knowledge is not decisive. The most that can be said is that that fact would have relieved the organisation of the duty to consult the complainant if the information sought had plainly not been of such a nature as to cause him any prejudice whatever. Such was not the case, however".
Keywords:
communication to third party; confidential evidence; duty to inform; injury; organisation's duties; personal file;
Consideration 3
Extract:
The organisation, "in its capacity as an employer bound to safeguard the lawful interests of its staff [...] is as a rule bound to inform its staff members of requests for information about them [...]" This is an implicit statutory obligation. "In view of the possible consequences of a breach it is in fact a legal duty and not just a rule of courtesy or expediency."
Keywords:
communication to third party; duty to inform; enforcement; organisation; personal file; staff regulations and rules;
Consideration 6
Extract:
The complainant invites the Tribunal to declare that a confidential file has been compiled relating to him; he seeks to be allowed to consult the file and have it destroyed. "These claims are receivable since the complainant has an interest in ensuring that all the documents concerning him should be put in his personal file, to which he has free access under [the applicable provision]. Also receivable are the claims [asking for] a list of the documents to which he is denied access, those claims being implicitly included in his original claims for relief."
Keywords:
application for quashing; cause of action; claim; complainant; confidential evidence; disclosure of evidence; personal file; receivability of the complaint; request by a party;
Consideration 7
Extract:
"By virtue of Article 4.12 of the Staff Regulations each staff member may freely consult his personal file. Like any public administration, however, the organisation is entitled not to put in an official's personal file some of the documents which concern him, that is keep such documents secret from him."
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: ARTICLE 4.12 OF ILO STAFF REGULATIONS
Keywords:
confidential evidence; disclosure of evidence; duty to inform; organisation's duties; personal file;
Judgment 232
32nd Session, 1974
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations
Extract:
"No general principle of law bars one organisation from communicating to another information on its former employees, provided that such information is materially correct and related to the employees' professional qualifications and is not given with malicious intent."
Keywords:
communication to third party; organisation; organisation's duties; other; personal file; work appraisal;
Judgment 155
24th Session, 1970
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 2
Extract:
"[I]t does not fall to the Administrative Tribunal to order any alteration of a report made on an official of the organization by the competent authorities or the withdrawal from the dossier of any part of such report."
Keywords:
application for quashing; competence of tribunal; judicial review; performance report; personal file; rating; work appraisal;
Judgment 131
21st Session, 1969
World Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 2
Extract:
"There is no provision in the Staff Regulations or Rules conferring on the complainant any right in respect of the documents in the organization's file concerning him. He is not entitled to require either that they should be withdrawn or that copies of them should be furnished to him. The submissions on these matters are therefore unfounded."
Keywords:
application for quashing; competence of tribunal; complainant; confidential evidence; disclosure of evidence; elements; personal file; request by a party;
Judgment 115
18th Session, 1967
World Meteorological Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 1
Extract:
"At the request of [the] complainant [...], the Tribunal ordered [the witness to] be heard [...] and [the complainant's] personal file [to be disclosed]. The Tribunal considered, however, that the delivery of [the] complainant's medical file and of a document concerning events subsequent to the filing of the complaint was unnecessary for the disposition of the case."
Keywords:
appraisal of evidence; disclosure of evidence; oral proceedings; personal file; request by a party; subsequent fact; testimony; tribunal;
