549 (2024)

UNAT Held or UNDT Pronouncements

The UNAT found that the presented reasons for an extension did not qualify as exceptional circumstances and did not necessitate an extension in the interest of justice. The UNAT denied the motion for an extension of the time limit to file the appeal.

Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed

The UNDT issued Judgment No. UNDT/2023/126 in which it dismissed the staff member’s application as not receivable. The staff member filed a motion for suspension, waiver, or extension of time limit to file his appeal with the UNAT.

Legal Principle(s)

The Appeals Tribunal has been strictly enforcing, and will continue to strictly enforce, the various time limits in the UNAT Statute. The Appeals Tribunal is not prepared to accept every delay or inability of a staff member to file an appeal as an insurmountable obstacle to the timely preparation of an appeal, given the prevalence of modern methods of communication. The Appeals Tribunal has granted additional time to gather documents to prepare the appeal; where an applicant has an especially complex case with voluminous materials, a lengthy UNDT judgment and requires time for consultation with counsel; to applicants who have not had access to the necessary documents due to being on sick leave; and on the grounds of inability to access documents when there was a strike action in the office.

Outcome

Other motion denied

Outcome Extra Text

The UNAT ordered that the staff member's request is denied and he had to file his complete appeal no later than two business days from the date of the Order.

OAJ prepared this case law summary for informational purposes only. It is no official record and should not be relied upon as an authoritative interpretation of the Tribunals' rulings. For the authoritative texts, please refer to the judgment or order rendered by the respective Tribunal. The Tribunals are the only bodies competent to interpret their respective judgments, as provided under Article 12(3) of the UNDT Statute and Article 11(3) of the UNAT Statute. Any inaccuracies in the publication are the sole responsibility of OAJ, which should be contacted directly for any correction requests. To provide comments, don't hesitate to get in touch with OAJ at oaj@un.org.

The judgment summaries were generally prepared in English. They were translated into French and are being reviewed for accuracy of the translation.

Individual Party

Polino Malish Abbas

Entity

Case Number(s)

Tribunal

Registry

Date of Order