Judgment 2116
92nd Session, 2002
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 5
Extract:
"The [organization] was cavalier in the way in which it informed [the complainant] of what was to become of the selection process. For the complainant it was particularly important that she be informed promptly whether she could expect to be appointed, so that she could start to look for another job if need be. She contends, and the [organization] does not demur, that she had the more reason to be optimistic as she had been told unofficially that of all the applicants, she stood the best chance of being appointed. In these circumstances, the [organization] ought to have [informed] her [...] that reclassification was a serious possibility for the post in question. But it did not [...] thereafter, when a decision was taken [...] to withdraw the vacancy announcement, the organization should have informed the candidates immediately. [...] The complainant was so informed in writing [...] nearly four months later. Even if [...] she was informed by telephone [...] written notification was nonetheless an obligation. The complainant's personal interests have undoubtedly been harmed and some redress for the material and moral injury she suffered is warranted [...]."
Keywords:
appointment; assignment; candidate; competition; competition cancelled; date of notification; delay; duty to inform; material damages; material injury; moral injury; organisation's duties; post; post classification; procedure before the tribunal; staff member's interest; time limit; vacancy notice;
Judgment 2072
91st Session, 2001
United Nations Industrial Development Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 6
Extract:
The complainant benefited from a voluntary separation programme that the organization had had to implement because of financial difficulties. He is challenging the refusal to consider his request for re-employment. "The organization cannot be taken to task for not considering him for [vacant] posts for which he had not applied, or for not offering him another [post] while it was still in financial straits."
Keywords:
agreed termination; budgetary reasons; competition; failure to answer claim; participation; post; refusal; reinstatement; request by a party; separation from service; vacancy; vacancy notice;
Judgment 1787
86th Session, 1999
International Organization for Migration
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations 10-11
Extract:
"The qualifications expected may be just 'desirable', not requirements binding in law. But the appointing authority is not free on that account [...] to disregard the fact that some do qualify and to plump for the very one who does not, even one who in other respects has the right experience and skills. [...] Here the Organization picked someone wanting in listed qualifications which, though said to be only 'desirable', were in fact essential. It thereby fell short of the standards of objectiveness and openness that must govern appointment to a senior post in an international organisation. The process of selection cannot stand [...]" (See Judgment 1595, under 10.)
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 1595
Keywords:
appointment; candidate; competition; competition cancelled; condition; criteria; discretion; flaw; post; post description; procedure before the tribunal; professional experience; qualifications; vacancy notice;
Judgment 1698
84th Session, 1998
Pan American Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 10
Extract:
The Tribunal notes "that a vacancy notice [...] is necessarily a document whose validity is limited in time by the closing date of the particular competition which it announces. [...] The requirements of any post may of course change over time."
Keywords:
competition; condition; limits; vacancy; vacancy notice;
Judgment 1646
83rd Session, 1997
International Telecommunication Union
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations 6 and 10
Extract:
"When an organisation chooses to hold a competition it must abide by its written rules and by the general principles set forth in the case law, particularly insofar as they govern the formal side of the process. [...] As the Appeal Board gathered from the personal records of the candidates on the preselection panel's list, [the successful candidate] had neither the university degree nor the experience that the notice required."
Keywords:
applicable law; appointment; candidate; case law; competition; criteria; degree; due process; international civil service principles; organisation's duties; patere legem; procedure before the tribunal; professional experience; selection procedure; staff regulations and rules; vacancy notice;
Consideration 11
Extract:
"The defendant contends on the strength of the complainant's personal file and his supervisors' reports on his conduct and performance that he was not up to the job anyway. That is neither here nor there. The Union has neglected the cardinal rule of any process of selection: the chosen candidate must have at least the qualifications stipulated in the notice."
Keywords:
appointment; candidate; competition; criteria; due process; organisation's duties; personal file; procedure before the tribunal; qualifications; vacancy notice;
Judgment 1595
82nd Session, 1997
European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 10
Extract:
"Even if she were unqualified for the post the complainant would not forfeit her right to challenge the appointment."
Keywords:
cause of action; competition; condition; internal candidate; receivability of the complaint; vacancy notice;
Consideration 10
Extract:
"Though the qualifications stated in a notice of vacancy are not absolutely binding and the Director General may still exercise some discretion, he may not so utterly discard them as to flout the rules that ensure the proper openness and objectivity of the competition."
Keywords:
appointment; competition; criteria; discretion; executive head; flaw; limits; vacancy notice;
Judgment 1549
81st Session, 1996
International Atomic Energy Agency
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 13
Extract:
"Although an organisation [may consider] late applicants, it must, whenever a competition is required or desired, announce a new deadline in the same way as it did the vacancy. It will then commit no breach of equality and the competition will be seen as fair."
Keywords:
appointment; candidate; competition; delay; due process; equal treatment; internal candidate; new time limit; organisation's duties; receivability of the complaint; selection procedure; time limit; vacancy; vacancy notice;
Consideration 6
Extract:
"An official of an international organisation who applies for a vacancy is entitled to have his application considered and assessed according to the set procedure once the organisation admits it under the terms of the vacancy notice. It may not deny that an applicant has a cause of action after it has appointed someone else, especially if the applicant is challenging the appointment on the grounds of breach of his rights in failure to apply the proper procedure".
Keywords:
appointment; candidate; case law; cause of action; competition; due process; internal candidate; organisation's duties; receivability of the complaint; staff regulations and rules; vacancy; vacancy notice;
Judgment 1527
81st Session, 1996
International Telecommunication Union
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 6
Extract:
The complainant is challenging the lawfulness of the appointment of another official, who was promoted without a competition to a post for which the complainant considered himself qualified. The Tribunal holds that the post should "have been properly advertised and a selection made by competition." Even though the other official "had been performing the duties for about a year on her own G.7 post of administrative assistant, she could have been appointed to the vacant post only after the prescribed procedure had been followed. the itu was not free to bypass the procedure by promoting her to P.3."
Keywords:
appointment; competition; flaw; procedural flaw; promotion; vacancy; vacancy notice;
Judgment 1497
80th Session, 1996
World Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 7
Extract:
"The conclusion [of the Tribunal] is that in appointing [the successful applicant] the Organization broke the basic rule of any process of selection that the successful applicant must have all the minimum qualifications required in the notice of vacancy."
Keywords:
appointment; candidate; competition; condition; due process; qualifications; vacancy notice;
Judgment 1430
79th Session, 1995
International Atomic Energy Agency
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 13
Extract:
Since the complainant did not meet the requirements laid down in the vacancy notice, the decision not to select him "has caused him no injury".
Keywords:
cause of action; claim; competition; condition; lack of injury; receivability of the complaint; vacancy notice;
Judgment 1396
78th Session, 1995
European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 7
Extract:
The complainant objects to the grade she got when she took up her appointment. The Tribunal observes that the vacancy notice stated that the post could be filled at that grade. "She accepted the offer, before being actually appointed, both by her answer to [the organisation's offer] and by signing the letter of appointment. She thereby surrendered her right to challenge ex post facto any clause of the contract of service which she freely consented to and which was the prerequisite of her becoming a Eurocontrol official.
Keywords:
acceptance; appointment; competition; contract; grade; offer; vacancy notice;
Judgment 1386
78th Session, 1995
European Patent Organisation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 19
Extract:
The Tribunal holds that since the notice of vacancy "had to be in general enough terms to attract a wide variety of applicants it cannot be regarded as a specific enough job description to be of use to the official."
Keywords:
competition; post description; staff member's interest; vacancy notice;
Judgment 1383
78th Session, 1995
World Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 12
Extract:
"It is axiomatic that a candidate who does not fulfil the minimum requirements set out in a vacancy notice does not qualify for selection."
Keywords:
candidate; competition; condition; vacancy notice;
Considerations 14-15
Extract:
The selection process for a vacancy that had been put up for competition was fatally flawed because the successful candidate did not meet the minimum requirements in the vacancy notice. The complainant "admits that she drafted the description to fit her own qualifications and experience [and that she was] endeavouring from the outset to pervert the process to secure her own appointment. [...] In the circumstances she is not entitled to any damages at all. [...] Accordingly, the Tribunal will [not] award the complainant damages for material or moral injury."
Keywords:
candidate; compensation; competition; good faith; material damages; moral injury; vacancy notice;
Judgment 1359
77th Session, 1994
European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 12
Extract:
One consistent requirement the regulations lay down for filling posts "is the appointment of a selection board that may consider all applicants [...] who qualify under one and the same notice of vacancy. As was said in Judgment 1223, that formal requirement affords every applicant a basic safeguard of open and objective decision-making, and it holds good whether the applicant wants promotion, transfer or a change of category."
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 1223
Keywords:
appointment; candidate; case law; competition; organisation's duties; procedure before the tribunal; promotion; safeguard; selection board; staff regulations and rules; transfer; vacancy notice;
Consideration 7
Extract:
"The complainant qualified under the wording of the notice and was entitled as a eurocontrol official to have his application considered and assessed by a process that complied with the rules. [...] It was not, and the breach of his rightful interest affords grounds for this complaint."
Keywords:
candidate; cause of action; competition; internal candidate; procedural flaw; procedure before the tribunal; receivability of the complaint; staff member's interest; staff regulations and rules; vacancy notice;
Judgment 1357
77th Session, 1994
European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 11
Extract:
"The organisation is free to withdraw a notice of vacancy at any time, even when, as in this case, the process of selection has gone quite far. The conclusion is that the complainant's internal appeal disclosed no cause of action at the time of filing and that his complaint must fail for the same reason, there being no need to entertain his arguments on the merits."
Keywords:
competition; discretion; internal appeal; no cause of action; organisation's interest; post; procedure before the tribunal; receivability of the complaint; vacancy notice;
Judgment 1331
76th Session, 1994
Pan American Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 13
Extract:
"On account of the undue delay in the selection process [i.e. some ten months between the issue of the vacancy notice and the meeting of the Selection Committee] the Tribunal awards the complainant damages for moral injury in a sum of 1,000 United States dollars."
Keywords:
administrative delay; competition; competition cancelled; delay; due process; moral injury; procedure before the tribunal; selection board; vacancy notice;
Judgment 1272
75th Session, 1993
World Tourism Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 16
Extract:
To apply rules that make the competence of a candidate and his prior service in the organisation paramount considerations in filling vacancies means "that at the very least the staff must be told of the vacancy or of the creation of a post and anyone who wants to apply must be allowed to do so and must have the application considered according to objective criteria."
Keywords:
appointment; candidate; creation of post; duty to inform; organisation's duties; post; vacancy; vacancy notice;
Judgment 1223
74th Session, 1993
European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 20
Extract:
"True, a staff member may not assert any right to promotion and the choice of the successful applicant is at the discretion of the administration, which alone may appraise the organisation's interests. Yet the exercise of discretion is subject to restrictions in law and the Tribunal will to that extent review the decision: see for example Judgment 1016 [...]. So the staff member has undeniably the right to file an internal appeal or a complaint with the Tribunal if he believes that the appointment to a vacancy he has applied for is improper."
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 1016
Keywords:
appointment; candidate; case law; cause of action; competition; complaint; discretion; internal candidate; judicial review; limits; organisation's interest; promotion; receivability of the complaint; refusal; right; vacancy notice;
Consideration 30
Extract:
The complainant, a Eurocontrol official, challenges the rejection of his application to a post of head of division and the appointment of an external candidate to that post. He alleges that the recruitment procedure was unlawful. "The Tribunal will not interfere in drafting a notice of vacancy or comparing candidates who respond to the notice. But for Eurocontrol to open a competition for serving officials and then change the terms of recruitment sub rosa so as to deny them any real chance of success was in breach of the duty of trust and fairness the organisation owes its staff."
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 1016
Keywords:
appointment; candidate; competition; discretion; due process; equal treatment; good faith; judicial review; organisation's duties; vacancy notice;
Judgment 1004
68th Session, 1990
International Labour Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 17
Extract:
The complainant's candidature in an internal competition was rejected on the grounds that he had not served the ILO for an unbroken period of two years. He submits that the Staff Regulations nowhere lay down such a condition. The plea fails. The two-year requirement was clear from the competition announcement; it also appears to have been a standard and long-standing condition for entering internal ILO competitions.
Keywords:
appointment; competition; condition; internal competition; no provision; practice; vacancy notice;
Judgment 729
58th Session, 1986
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 1
Extract:
"The principle of equality, which is binding on an international organisation even if it is not stated in the rules, requires that when a vacancy occurs all members of the staff should have the same opportunity of securing it. The organization is not of course bound to ensure that the notice of a vacancy should actually reach everyone. Its duty goes no further than to issue the notice by some suitable means and with suitable promptness."
Keywords:
competition; duty to inform; equal treatment; organisation's duties; vacancy; vacancy notice;
