Judgment 2847
107th Session, 2009
European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 7
Extract:
"The purpose of the family allowances which Eurocontrol pays to officials with dependent children is to contribute financially towards these children's maintenance, and the aim of the rule laid down in [Article 67(2) of the Staff Regulations], according to which the amount of these allowances must be reduced by the amount of allowances of the same kind paid from other sources, such as family allowances paid by a national authority, is to prevent two benefits from being granted concurrently for the same children, since this would plainly result in the unlawful enrichment of the recipient family.
In this regard, the fact that the [national authority] does not make payments to the official himself, but to his spouse (or, as in this case, his partner), is of course immaterial. If the two benefits in question are being paid for the maintenance of the same children, they cannot be drawn simultaneously by the parents without contravening the very purpose of this rule against concurrent benefits."
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: Article 67(2) of the Staff Regulations governing officials of the Eurocontrol Agency
Keywords:
accumulation; amount; breach; dependent child; domestic law; family allowance; marital status; parent; purpose; rate; staff regulations and rules; unjust enrichment; written rule;
Judgment 2565
101st Session, 2006
World Customs Organization (Customs Co-operation Council)
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 7(a)
Extract:
"According to a general principle of law, whoever has paid a sum mistakenly is entitled to recover it within a reasonable time provided the person can prove that the sum was paid in the mistaken belief that it was owed (see Judgments 497, under 6, and 1195, under 3)."
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 497, 1195
Keywords:
amount; burden of proof; condition; general principle; payment; reasonable time; recovery of overpayment; right; unjust enrichment;
Judgment 2198
94th Session, 2003
World Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 15
Extract:
The complainant worked, from 1993 to 2000, under a series of short-term contracts of varying durations. The complainant submits that there has been unjust enrichment on the part of the organization: it profited materially from appointing him on a short-term basis because he was doing the work of a fixed-term staff member. "The existence and validity of the contracts of employment are a complete bar to this plea. The doctrine of unjust enrichment finds its origins in the law of quasi-contract. As was said in Judgment 2097, under 20, 'the existence of a valid contract between the parties, covering the very matters which are the subject of the claim, excludes any claim of unjust enrichment'."
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 2097
Keywords:
acceptance; contract; duration of appointment; fixed-term; intention of parties; law of contract; offer; right; short-term; successive contracts; unjust enrichment;
Judgment 2175
94th Session, 2003
United Nations Industrial Development Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 11(c)
Extract:
"The complainant states that the Director-General based the decision not to renew his contract on the false assumption that he was using [his] project for self-enrichment purposes. If that were true, however, it would be grounds for immediate termination and not merely non-renewal of a fixed-term contract."
Keywords:
contract; decision; executive head; fixed-term; grounds; misconduct; mistake of fact; non-renewal of contract; termination of employment; unjust enrichment;
Judgment 1849
87th Session, 1999
World Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations 18-19
Extract:
"The Tribunal considers that, in accordance with its jurisprudence, if an official receives an overpayment by mistake it should be reimbursed. Nevertheless, the organization should take into account any circumstances which would make it unfair or unjust to require repayment. [...] In the Tribunal's opinion there is no indebtedness by the complainant to the organization. It was responsible for making payments on behalf of the United Nations, but has been fully reimbursed. The organization therefore, was not entitled to withhold the grants due or make deductions from salary under rule 380.5.2 since the complainant was not indebted to it."
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: STAFF RULE 380.5.2 OF WHO
Keywords:
amount; criteria; debt; deduction; equity; exception; recovery of overpayment; refund; unjust enrichment;
Judgment 1366
77th Session, 1994
Universal Postal Union
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations 13-14
Extract:
The complainant's education grant gave rise to an overpayment. He pleads that there is a time limit for the recovery of overpayments. The UPU observes that "any payment made in error may be recovered" but it has nevertheless waived some of the sum due. "In the circumstances the time limit the union has set is much to the complainant's advantage and his plea under this head therefore fails."
Keywords:
amount; education expenses; recovery of overpayment; refund; time bar; time limit; unjust enrichment;
Considerations 11-12
Extract:
The complainant's education allowance gave rise to an overpayment. He alleges breach of the rule against retroactivity. "He is wrong. [...] What is at issue is the recovery of overpayments; and the complainant [...] must have been aware of the patent disproportion between the advances he was receiving and the education expenses he had actually incurred. So he may not properly plead any mistake in interpretation."
Keywords:
amount; education expenses; non-retroactivity; recovery of overpayment; refund; unjust enrichment;
Consideration 10
Extract:
The complainant's education grant gave rise to an overpayment. "He seeks to justify his behaviour by pleading that other staff members had done the same. The plea fails because equality in law does not embrace equality in the breach of it."
Keywords:
amount; education expenses; equal treatment; refund; unjust enrichment;
Judgment 1347
77th Session, 1994
Pan American Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations 15-16
Extract:
The complainant received a study allowance for her tuition costs in an amount greater than she was entitled to. The PAHO asked her to repay the overpayment and took away some of her responsibilities. She regards the removal of certain responsibilities as unwarranted disciplinary action. But "the PAHO was entitled to take administrative action to prevent lapses in the future. Changing her duties for those reasons may not be regarded as a disciplinary measure either."
Keywords:
allowance; amendment to the rules; disciplinary measure; education expenses; organisation's interest; post description; recovery of overpayment; unjust enrichment;
Consideration 13
Extract:
The complainant received financial aid from the PAHO to pursue her studies. Her university waived part of her tuition fees so that the cost to her was less than the amount she collected. "The conclusion is that she did not take sufficient care to make full disclosure to the organization of the assistance given by the university."
Keywords:
allowance; amount; duty to inform; education expenses; refund; staff member's duties; unjust enrichment;
Consideration 14
Extract:
The complainant received financial aid from the PAHO to pursue her studies. Her university waived part of her tuition fees so that the cost to her was less than the amount she collected. "Having obtained financial benefits to which she was not entitled, the complainant was under an obligation to refund the over-payments and the PAHO was entitled to recover them."
Keywords:
allowance; amount; education expenses; recovery of overpayment; refund; unjust enrichment;
Judgment 1196
73rd Session, 1992
World Intellectual Property Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations 15 to 18
Extract:
The Organization repealed Staff Regulation 3.1 bis. The complainants contend that this impaired their acquired rights and the stability of their conditions of pay in breach of Regulation 12.1. "In point of principle a rule calculated to achieve stability, like 3.1 bis, serves the lawful purpose of protecting against the erosion of pay by monetary trends, a factor extraneous to the contract of employment, and once the staff have been granted such a safeguard the rule-making authority may not arbitrarily do away with it. But [...] there was objective cause to repeal 3.1 bis in that it had entailed adjusting pay only when the dollar fell on the exchange market but not when it rose above any given point. There was potential - depending on currency fluctuation - for an undue increase in pay constituting a lasting charge to WIPO's budget which was no more warranted than it would have been for the Organization to make savings if the dollar fell. The conclusion is that because of the untoward effects the old rule might have [WIPO] was right to repeal it. Repeal was not in breach of the staff's acquired rights".
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: FORMER WIPO STAFF REGULATION 3.1 BIS; WIPO STAFF REGULATION 12.1
Keywords:
acquired right; adjustment; amendment to the rules; cost-of-living weighting; currency of payment; exchange rate; international civil service principles; salary; staff regulations and rules; unjust enrichment;
Judgment 1157
72nd Session, 1992
International Criminal Police Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations 7-8
Extract:
"The first factor of material damages is the complainant's administrative and financial status at the date of dismissal. [...] the second factor is how he has fared since dismissal: else he may obtain unjust enrichment."
Keywords:
compensatory allowance; injury; material injury; termination of employment; unjust enrichment;
Judgment 1156
72nd Session, 1992
International Criminal Police Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations 7-8
Extract:
"The first factor of material damages is the complainant's administrative and financial status at the date of dismissal. [...] The second factor is how she has fared since dismissal: else she may obtain unjust enrichment."
Keywords:
compensatory allowance; injury; material injury; termination of employment; unjust enrichment;
Judgment 1155
72nd Session, 1992
International Criminal Police Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations 4-5
Extract:
"The first factor of material damages is [the complainant's] administrative and financial status at the date of dismissal [...]. Information is [also] needed on what he has been doing since leaving the organization: else he may obtain unjust enrichment. Interpol sought information from him on that score but he refused to give it. That being his attitude, any claim from him for loss of earnings cannot but fail."
Keywords:
compensatory allowance; injury; material injury; staff member's duties; termination of employment; unjust enrichment;
Judgment 497
48th Session, 1982
Pan American Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Summary
Extract:
As the money [an education grant] was paid by mistake, prima facie it is recoverable. "But the extent to which recovery will be ordered depends on the circumstances of the case. In this case the Tribunal considers that it will be sufficient if the complainant repays half."
Keywords:
allowance; condition; education expenses; recovery of overpayment; unjust enrichment;
Judgment 123
20th Session, 1968
International Atomic Energy Agency
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 3
Extract:
In approving the complainant's request for application for repatriation grant, the organisation misinterpreted the material provisions. Payment to the complainant was approved ex gratia. It was however subject to a provision which the organisation "implicitly waived [...] by refraining from claiming repayment of this amount in the course of the present procedure. [The] complainant's right to keep the money he has received is thus not in question."
Keywords:
ex gratia; recovery of overpayment; repatriation allowance; unjust enrichment;
