Judgment 1346
77th Session, 1994
International Criminal Police Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 10
Extract:
The complainant was dismissed on grounds of serious misconduct. He submits that "the punishment is out of proportion to any offence he may have committed. [...] He is wrong. As the Joint Disciplinary Committee unanimously held, he was guilty of 'wilful and repeated insubordination', had never since shown 'the slightest contrition or change of mind' and had offered 'unacceptable explanations for his behaviour'. The conclusion is that in the circumstances there was nothing disproportionate about the sanction."
Keywords:
advisory body; advisory opinion; disciplinary measure; disciplinary procedure; insubordination; misconduct; proportionality; staff member's duties;
Judgment 1334
76th Session, 1994
International Atomic Energy Agency
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 27
Extract:
"The Tribunal must make it plain that it will not interfere in the Agency's exercise of its discretion to determine the sort of additional duties or constraints that earn special compensation over and above the payment of salary for the performance of normal duties. Nor, if the Agency believes special compensation to be warranted, will the Tribunal, save in obviously anomalous cases, rule on the form such compensation should take or the arrangements for granting it."
Keywords:
compensatory allowance; discretion; judicial review; limits; proportionality; salary;
Judgment 1271
75th Session, 1993
World Meteorological Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 5
Extract:
See Judgment 1070, consideration 9.
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 1070
Keywords:
case law; disciplinary measure; misconduct; proportionality; serious misconduct; termination of employment;
Judgment 1250
74th Session, 1993
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations 22-23
Extract:
The complainant was dismissed for misconduct after refusing transfer to a post outside headquarters. He alleges that summary dismissal was at odds with the principle of proportionality. The Tribunal holds that "dismissal was not a sudden decision. Furthermore, even after the proposal for dismissal he was given two opportunities to change his mind. [...] The decision to dismiss was a proper exercise of the discretion of the organization and did not infringe the principle of proportionality."
Keywords:
decision; disciplinary measure; discretion; duty station; general principle; headquarters; organisation; proportionality; refusal; serious misconduct; termination of employment; transfer;
Judgment 1238
74th Session, 1993
World Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 4
Extract:
The Tribunal ordered the complainant's reinstatement in Judgment 999. But the Director-General decided that reinstatement was not in the interest of the organization and awarded him compensation. "To condemn someone to unemployment on account of a single negligent act unaccompanied by improper intention, and in circumstances that do not justify loss of confidence by the employer, is to demand a humanly impossible standard of performance by the employee and makes the right to reinstatement illusory."
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 999
Keywords:
complainant; discretion; good faith; limits; negligence; organisation; organisation's interest; proportionality; refusal; reinstatement; right; termination of employment;
Judgment 1210
74th Session, 1993
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 7
Extract:
The complainant was accused of misappropriation of funds. After an investigation he was dismissed for misconduct. He submits that the penalty of dismissal is disproportionate to his offence. "There is no evidence before the Tribunal to suggest that the penalty of dismissal was in any way excessive or unreasonable in the circumstances of this case."
Keywords:
conduct; disciplinary measure; inquiry; investigation; proportionality; termination of employment;
Judgment 1070
70th Session, 1991
International Telecommunication Union
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 9
Extract:
"A sanction out of proportion to the subjective and objective nature of the offence must be quashed because it is flawed with a mistake of law." As the complainant was guilty of defrauding the ILO/ITU Health Fund, his dismissal was not a sanction out of proportion to the offence.
Keywords:
disciplinary measure; misconduct; proportionality; serious misconduct; termination of employment;
Judgment 962
66th Session, 1989
European Patent Organisation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Summary
Extract:
Paragraph 4 of Circular 34 of 15 May 1979 says that "for the purpose of calculating seniority for advancement in the prescribed steps within the relevant grade, the period of part-time work will be taken into account in the same way as in the case of normal full-time work". The Tribunal holds that the EPO's practice of counting part-time work towards seniority for promotion on a pro-rata basis on the principle that promotion is a reward for service rendered is in no way at odds with the guidelines in the material circular as the complainant mistakenly argues.
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: PARAGRAPH 4 OF CIRCULAR 34 OF 15 MAY 1979
Keywords:
consequence; difference; part-time employment; professional experience; promotion; proportionality; reckoning; seniority; step;
Judgment 937
65th Session, 1988
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 14
Extract:
"When disciplinary action is out of all proportion to the offence according to both objective and subjective criteria, there is a mistake of law that warrants setting the impugned decision aside. There must be the closest scrutiny when the measure is dismissal."
Keywords:
disciplinary measure; proportionality; termination of employment;
Judgment 805
61st Session, 1987
European Patent Organisation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 18
Extract:
"An international organisation has the right [...] when its staff goes on strike [...] among other things [to] order staff to perform their duties. Provided it respects the principle of proportionality such order will not upset the proper balance between the parties' rights and duties in the event of a collective dispute."
Keywords:
proportionality; requisition; right to strike; strike;
Judgment 635
54th Session, 1984
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 11
Extract:
The organization accuses the complainant of gross breach of her duty of discretion. The Tribunal finds that the decision to dismiss her was based on facts which were not sufficiently established. "Dismissal is too drastic a measure for the staff member not to have the benefit of the doubt. The decision being quashed, the complainant is entitled to straightforward reinstatement since the Tribunal sees no reason to award her damages in lieu. Since she seeks damages only if not reinstated the Tribunal need not rule on this claim."
Keywords:
benefit of doubt; disciplinary measure; misconduct; proportionality; reinstatement; serious misconduct; termination of employment;
Judgment 481
48th Session, 1982
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 3
Extract:
It appears from the applicable provisions that "the monthly salary is 1/12 of the yearly salary, and the daily salary 1/360 of the yearly and 1/30 of the monthly salary. The complainant was on unauthorised leave for two hours, i.e. for one quarter of a normal working day. It was therefore right to deduct a sum corresponding to 1/120 of her monthly salary."
Keywords:
amount; deduction; entitlement for service rendered; proportionality; salary; unauthorised absence;
Judgment 463
46th Session, 1981
World Tourism Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 4
Extract:
Under the so-called service rendered rule, an official is entitled to remuneration in respect of services rendered. It is true that this is only a general rule. In some cases, the Director-General may relieve the staff member from his duty without loss of salary. However the reasons for this must be clearly stated.
Keywords:
entitlement for service rendered; exception; proportionality; salary;
Judgment 403
43rd Session, 1980
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 16
Extract:
The complainant was urged by the organisation not to use official stationery for communications of a non-recognised staff association. The Tribunal does not believe that the use of inter-office memoranda could be interpreted as giving an official character to the correspondence. "The Tribunal does not consider that the position is so clear or the offence, if there was one, so heinous as to call for a warning of severe disciplinary measures."
Keywords:
disciplinary measure; misconduct; proportionality; staff representative; warning;
Judgment 349
40th Session, 1978
European Southern Observatory
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 32
Extract:
The complainant was summarily dismissed for disrespectful conduct. His dismissal was out of proportion with the offence. "The Tribunal will not order the reinstatement of the complainant. This could create a difficult situation [...] for which the complainant's abrasive conduct would be partly to blame." Compensation must be substantial: he had indefinite employment in an excellent post and suffered serious economic losses from the loss of employment. "The Tribunal must however take account of the fact that while the complainant's employment with the organisation might have lasted for the rest of his working life, [he was thirty years of age at the time.] There is a risk that a man of his temperament might sooner or later have given just cause for dismissal."
Keywords:
amount; conduct; contract; insubordination; material damages; misconduct; permanent appointment; proportionality; termination of employment;
Consideration 24
Extract:
The complainant's attitude and expressions were interpreted as showing a degree of disrespect to his direct superior, who had not however made any rebuke on earlier occasions and who found himself as negotiator in confrontation with the complainant in meetings on working conditions. "[T]he Tribunal concludes that any offence that was given did not deserve more than a reprimand." The selection of the appropriate penalty is a discretionary one, but this discretion must be exercised subject to the principle of proportionality. "[T]he penalty of summary dismissal was out of proportion to any offence committed."
Keywords:
conduct; disciplinary measure; discretion; insubordination; misconduct; proportionality; summary dismissal; termination of employment;
Judgment 237
33rd Session, 1974
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 1
Extract:
The serious misconduct with which the complainant was charged consisted of 1) taking an official car and using it for his own purposes and returning it in a damaged condition; 2) reporting for duty the next day in an intoxicated condition. On the first charge, the Tribunal "concludes that in the circumstances the complainant's misconduct justified his dismissal under the regulations." The second charge was not serious enough to warrant dismissal, but since the first was sufficient, "this conclusion is immaterial."
Keywords:
conduct; disciplinary measure; judicial review; proportionality; serious misconduct; termination of employment;
Considerations
Extract:
"To come on duty smelling of alcohol is reprehensible but does not amount to misconduct serious enough to justify dismissal."
Keywords:
conduct; misconduct; proportionality; serious misconduct; termination of employment;
Judgment 210
30th Session, 1973
World Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Summary
Extract:
The Tribunal holds that the four crucial representations were false; the complainant bore responsibility for the four misrepresentations and they could have had serious consequences for relations between the organization and the government, all of which constitutes misconduct. But the complainant's motives were not corrupt and his previous record was satisfactory. Account should have been taken of attenuating circumstances. Summary dismissal was out of all proportion to the degree of misbehaviour.
Keywords:
contract; duty of discretion; fixed-term; misrepresentation; mitigating circumstances; proportionality; serious misconduct; summary dismissal; termination of employment;
Consideration 4
Extract:
The Staff Rules provide for a range of penalties and "the principle of proportionality will ensure that extreme penalties, such as summary dismissal, are applied only to the gravest cases."
Keywords:
disciplinary measure; proportionality; safeguard; serious misconduct; termination of employment;
Consideration 5
Extract:
The question is whether the sanction imposed "gives adequate weight, not only to the nature of the misconduct taken by itself, but [also] to the extent to which in the circumstances of this case the complainant should be held to blame. In this connection there are mitigating factors which [...] the Director-General [does] not appear to have taken into account.
Keywords:
disciplinary measure; mitigating circumstances; proportionality; serious misconduct; termination of employment;
Judgment 207
30th Session, 1973
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations
Extract:
"It was within the sole discretion of the Director-General to decide upon the appropriate penalty, and the Administrative Tribunal cannot substitute its judgment for that of the head of the organization unless it finds that the penalty imposed is clearly out of proportion with the gravity of the offence". The complainant was suspended after reporting for work in a drunken state on several occasions and later dismissed.
Keywords:
disciplinary measure; discretion; judicial review; misconduct; proportionality; termination of employment;
Judgment 203
30th Session, 1973
International Labour Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 2
Extract:
"[T]he seriousness of the complainant's misconduct cannot be evaluated without taking into account the extenuating circumstances. [T]he complainant did not appear to be unfit for employment [in the organisation], and therefore in discharging him the Director did not observe the principle of proportionality."
Keywords:
mitigating circumstances; proportionality; serious misconduct; termination of employment;
Consideration 2
Extract:
"Cases in which a disciplinary sanction imposed on a staff member appears out of all proportion to the objective and subjective circumstances in which the misbehaviour was committed should be assimilated to cases of error of law."
Keywords:
disciplinary measure; flaw; proportionality;
Consideration 3
Extract:
The decision is quashed. The complainant's reinstatement would be inadvisable. "[H]aving regard to all the circumstances, therefore, in particular to the seriousness of his misbehaviour, the length of his employment, and the amount of his salary and termination benefits, the Tribunal awards the complainant compensation in the amount of one million Italian lira."
Keywords:
amount; contract; criteria; decision quashed; material damages; permanent appointment; proportionality; serious misconduct; termination of employment;
Consideration 2
Extract:
Discharge and summary dismissal, by depriving the official of his employment, "may cause serious harm to the staff member concerned and to his family. In accordance with the principle that the penalty should be proportionate to the fault, they should, therefore, as a general rule be imposed only on a staff member whose conduct appears to be incompatible with the performance of his duties."
Keywords:
consequence; injury; proportionality; summary dismissal; termination of employment;
Judgment 87
15th Session, 1965
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 5
Extract:
The complainant, a trade union official, made criticisms which were included in a tract. "The conduct which was deemed to justify [his] summary dismissal did not constitute misconduct serious enough to jeopardise or to be likely to jeopardise the reputation of the organization or its staff." Summary dismissal was not justified.
Keywords:
contract; duty of discretion; material damages; misconduct; moral injury; permanent appointment; proportionality; serious misconduct; staff representative; staff union activity; summary dismissal; termination of employment;
