Judgment 4219
129th Session, 2020
ITER International Fusion Energy Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Summary: The complainant, who had been seconded to the ITER Organization, challenges the decision to end his secondment and the failure to investigate his harassment allegations.
Judgment keywords
Keywords:
competence; complaint allowed; harassment; ratione personae; secondment;
Consideration 9
Extract:
The decision of the European Commission to make the recall is not justiciable before the Tribunal as it has not, as noted earlier, submitted to the Tribunal’s jurisdiction, even if it was possible.
Keywords:
competence of tribunal; defendant organisation; secondment;
Consideration 12
Extract:
The Tribunal now turns directly to the question of whether the complainant was an official for the purposes of the Tribunal’s Statute. In relation to seconded staff, it has been said by the Tribunal that “[a]s a general rule, the effect of secondment is to suspend the contractual relationship between the releasing agency and the employee, who retains the right to return to the releasing agency upon expiry of the secondment term without having to seek other employment. During secondment, [she or]he is subject to the staff regulations and rules of the receiving agency” (see Judgment 2184, consideration 4). Ultimately, of course, the status of a seconded employee has to be assessed having regard to the specific arrangements in place concerning the secondment. One case where a seconded employee was not viewed as an official or employee of the receiving organisation is Judgment 3247. Additionally, as the Tribunal observed in Judgment 2918, consideration 11, “[s]econdment is, in essence, a tripartite agreement which, ordinarily, involves an agreement between the person seconded and the receiving organisation, at least as to some matters”. In that case the applicability of the Staff Regulations depended on whether an individual had concluded an employment contract with the organisation and the Tribunal found the seconded staff had not. Additionally in that judgment reference was made to Judgment 703, which established that secondment does not necessarily preclude the person concerned from becoming a staff member of the organisation to which she or he is seconded.
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 703, 2184, 2918, 3247
Keywords:
competence; official; ratione personae; secondment; staff member;
Judgment 3846
124th Session, 2017
International Telecommunication Union
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Summary: The complainant objects to the working conditions to which she was subjected during a secondment and contends that the ITU breached the rules on performance appraisals.
Judgment keywords
Keywords:
complaint dismissed; secondment; working conditions;
Judgment 3606
121st Session, 2016
ITER International Fusion Energy Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Summary: The complainant, who had been seconded to the ITER Organization, challenges the decision not to renew his contract upon its expiry.
Judgment keywords
Keywords:
complaint dismissed; non-renewal of contract; secondment;
Judgment 2184
94th Session, 2003
United Nations Industrial Development Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 9
Extract:
"It is the essence of secondment that the official concerned shall return to and resume his employment with the releasing organisation upon expiry of the agreed term. Since he was aware of such terms of employment, the complainant cannot be entitled to moral or compensatory damages."
Keywords:
allowance; fixed-term; general principle; moral injury; refusal; request by a party; secondment; staff member's duties; terms of appointment;
Judgment 2150
93rd Session, 2002
International Criminal Police Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 10
Extract:
"The reduction in income suffered by detached employees when returning to their administration cannot be deemed the responsibility of the organisation concerned. [...] All employees who are detached should bear in mind that when, for one reason or another, they return to their administration, their salary is very likely to be lower. [...] Detachment offers particular advantages which encourage employees to apply for it, as well as disadvantages, including the precariousness arising out of the duration of the appointment offered. If an appointment is not renewed when it expires, this does not automatically result in an injury for which compensation may be claimed, whatever the nature of the injury."
Keywords:
career; consequence; contract; duration of appointment; non-renewal of contract; reduction of salary; salary; secondment;
Judgment 1643
83rd Session, 1997
Universal Postal Union
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 5
Extract:
It is true that the suspension of the unit in which the complainant was employed was based on a mistake about the date of expiry of her contract. But she was aware of the mistake and knew full well what she was doing when she accepted the impugned decision. "So she may not plead lack of consent."
Keywords:
abolition of post; acceptance; contract; date; decision; duration of appointment; lack of consent; secondment;
Judgment 1326
76th Session, 1994
International Telecommunication Union
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations 13-14
Extract:
The complainant alleges breach of his right to a termination indemnity because his post was abolished by the ITU. The Tribunal holds that he was not dismissed but transferred from the ITU to another organisation under the inter-organization agreement concerning transfer, secondment or loan of staff among the organizations of the United Nations common system. Since his leaving the ITU did not result from the abolition of his post, he is not entitled to a termination indemnity.
Keywords:
abolition of post; coordinated organisations; inter-agency agreement; right; secondment; separation from service; terminal entitlements; termination of employment;
Judgment 1249
74th Session, 1993
World Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 7
Extract:
The organization decided not to extend the complainant's appointment on the grounds that the authorities of his country were unwilling to release him any longer. "The organization makes out that, having derived from his status as a 'seconded' official the privilege of being relieved of going through the usual competitive process, the complainant may not, according to the doctrine of estoppel, 'take advantage of a special situation in his favour and then later deny the validity of this in order to obtain some further advantage'. The simple answer to that is that the organization bypassed the usual procedure because of an understanding it had with [a Member State]. So it may not properly expect the complainant to suffer for its own failure to follow the usual procedure as laid down in its rules."
Keywords:
appointment; breach; competition; complainant; contract; decision; enforcement; fixed-term; general principle; good faith; non-renewal of contract; procedure before the tribunal; secondment; staff regulations and rules;
Consideration 4
Extract:
WHO put an end to the complainant's appointment on the grounds that the authorities of his country were unwilling to release him any longer. "The Director-General took himself to be bound by the attitude of the government of the Soviet Union. In doing so, he mistook the limits of his own discretion. As was held in Judgment 15 [...] among others, he must in exercising that discretion observe the general principles that govern the international civil service and safeguard the independence of organisation and official alike. The Director-General has committed a mistake of law."
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 15
Keywords:
case law; complainant; contract; decision; discretion; executive head; extension of contract; fixed-term; independence; international civil service principles; limits; member state; nationality; non-renewal of contract; official; organisation; secondment;
Consideration 5
Extract:
The organization failed to renew the complainant's appointment on the grounds that the authorities of his country were unwilling to release him any longer. the director-general has "committed a mistake of fact by wrongly taking the complainant to be on secondment [...] the organization actually concedes the point in its surrejoinder: his appointment 'could not [...] be described as a true secondment'".
Keywords:
complainant; contract; decision; fixed-term; mistake of fact; non-renewal of contract; secondment;
Judgment 1221
74th Session, 1993
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 4
Extract:
The complainant seeks the redefinition of her duties and, subsidiarily, transfer or secondment. "The administration never forced the complainant to perform duties other than those in the description of her post. It is bound neither to amend the duties of staff to suit their own wishes nor [...] to grant their applications for transfer, provided that its decisions are not prompted by considerations irrelevant to its own interests."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; assignment; discretion; organisation's duties; organisation's interest; post; post description; request by a party; request for transfer; secondment;
Judgment 703
57th Session, 1985
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 4
Extract:
"Though a seconded official holds a fixed-term appointment his position is out of the ordinary. He cannot expect his contract to last more than two years unless the organisations decide differently. But on leaving the receiving organisation he goes back to the releasing one [...] It is therefore only reasonable that either organisation should have the right to end the secondment if it so wishes on the expiry of the prescribed period without having to explain its decision."
Keywords:
consequence; contract; discretion; duty to substantiate decision; fixed-term; non-renewal of contract; organisation's duties; reinstatement; secondment;
Consideration 7
Extract:
"The alleged promises were not in writing, the FAO denies they were ever made and it is not proved that they were. Besides, to be enforceable, they would have had to be agreed to by both organisations".
Keywords:
condition; contract; extension of contract; fixed-term; non-renewal of contract; promise; secondment;
Consideration 9
Extract:
"The holder of a fixed-term appointment is entitled to know the date of separation early enough to enable him to arrange things."
Keywords:
contract; fixed-term; non-renewal of contract; notice; organisation's duties; reasonable time; secondment; time limit;
Consideration 2
Extract:
"The purpose of secondment is exchange of staff between organisations, and it is governed by an inter-organization agreement concerning transfer, secondment or loan of staff among the organizations applying the United Nations common system of salaries and allowances."
Keywords:
definition; inter-agency agreement; secondment;
Consideration 2
Extract:
According to the inter-organization agreement on secondment, "while retaining his rights in the 'releasing' organisation, the staff member shall be subject to the Staff Regulations and Rules of the 'receiving' organisation."
Keywords:
applicable law; inter-agency agreement; secondment; staff regulations and rules;
Judgment 698
57th Session, 1985
European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 10
Extract:
"The complainant submits that according to the Tribunal's case law the termination of secondment need not entail the termination of appointment in an international organisation. The plea is mistaken."
Keywords:
contract; fixed-term; non-renewal of contract; secondment; separation from service;
Judgment 675
56th Session, 1985
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Summary
Extract:
Having served the organization since 1969, the complainant was seconded for two years to the UNDP in 1980. In 1982 the organization decided not to extend the appointment or the secondment. The Tribunal holds that the organization committed an error of law by assuming that a fixed-term appointment expires automatically on the specified expiration date, and an abuse of power for having terminated the complainant without stating its reasons. The award of damages reflects the especially grave moral injury sustained by the complainant.
Keywords:
abuse of power; contract; discretion; duty to substantiate decision; fixed-term; flaw; legitimate expectation; misuse of authority; moral injury; non-renewal of contract; secondment;
Judgment 295
38th Session, 1977
International Labour Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations
Extract:
The complainant was seconded from a national ministry. "The fact that [he] was apparently promoted in the French civil service [on a particular date] has in any event no bearing on the terms of his contract with the organisation."
Keywords:
consequence; domestic law; promotion; secondment;
Judgment 231
32nd Session, 1974
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations
Extract:
The complainant was seconded by NORAD to GATT, an organisation which has recognised the competence of the Tribunal. He did not conclude a contract of appointment with GATT and was not subject to its Staff Regulations. His contract merely stated that he was subject to the latter organisation's working conditions.
Keywords:
competence of tribunal; consequence; contract; locus standi; non official; right of appeal; secondment; staff regulations and rules; status of complainant;
Judgment 215
31st Session, 1973
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 1
Extract:
"There is not, nor is there alleged to be, any term of the complainant's appointment nor any provision in any Staff Regulation which requires the organization either to grant or to extend secondments to another international organization. Accordingly, the Tribunal is not competent to examine this complaint or to consider whether or not the reason given by the organization for its refusal was well-founded."
Keywords:
competence of tribunal; extension of contract; no provision; non-renewal of contract; secondment; terms of appointment;
