UNAT Held or UNDT Pronouncements
The UNAT held that the creation of the position of Deputy Special Representative (DSR), undertaken as part of the implementation of the recommendations to restructure the oPt Office, constituted an administrative decision of a general nature. It further concluded that although the newly established ToR for the DSR position transferred to the incumbent some duties and responsibilities that were previously part of the staff member’s Terms of Reference (ToR), this reallocation alone was insufficient to conclude that the creation of the position of DSR produced direct legal consequences for the staff member.
The UNAT further found that the UNDT correctly determined that the alteration of the staff member’s ToR was only formalized on 16 April 2024 and that this action constituted the relevant administrative decision that should have been submitted for management evaluation. As the staff member failed to do so, the UNAT concluded that the UNDT did not err in concluding that the staff member’s application was not receivable ratione materiae.
The UNAT dismissed the appeal and affirmed Judgment No. UNDT/2024/063.
Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed
A staff member of the UN Women Palestine Country Office contested several administrative actions relating to her position of National Programme Officer and taken as part of the restructuring of the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) Office.
In its Judgment No. UNDT/2024/063, the UNDT dismissed the staff member’s application as not receivable ratione materiae.
Staff member appealed.
Legal Principle(s)
An administrative decision subject to judicial review is a unilateral decision taken by the administration in a precise individual case (individual administrative act), which produces direct legal consequences to the legal order. Thus, the administrative decision is distinguished from other administrative acts, such as those having regulatory power (which are usually referred to as rules or regulations), as well as from those not having direct legal consequences.
Certain administrative processes are preparatory decisions or one of a series of steps which lead to an administrative decision. Such steps are preliminary in nature and may only be challenged in the context of an appeal against a final decision of the Administration that has direct legal consequences.
The Organization has the power to restructure some or all its departments or units, including the abolition of posts, the creation of new posts and the redeployment of staff. The Appeals Tribunal will not interfere with a genuine organisational restructuring even though it may have resulted in the loss of employment of staff.
The review of the organizational structure is an administrative decision of a general nature that does not, by itself, produce direct legal consequences for the affected staff members. Indeed, a restructuring exercise may lead to indirect consequences for staff members. However, what may be contested in such a context is the final administrative decision taken by the Administration in relation to each individual staff member following the conclusion of the restructuring exercise.