Judgment 1491
80th Session, 1996
European Organization for Nuclear Research
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 8
Extract:
The rule against discrimination "holds good only where staff who are in like case both in law and in fact have not been treated alike. Under CERN's agreement with France its staff are exempt in that country from direct taxation on their earnings from the organization. But the provision does not apply to French citizens, who do not enjoy exemption from tax on their earnings from CERN and are therefore, by reason of the terms of an agreement that CERN is bound by, not in the same position in law as staff of other nationalities."
Keywords:
domestic law; equal treatment; general principle; nationality; privileges and immunities; tax;
Consideration 8
Extract:
In respect of earnings from other sources than CERN, "the staff who are not French do fare better because only their other income counts for the purpose of reckoning rates of income tax and it therefore falls within lower tax brackets, whereas for the French citizens the whole of their income counts for that purpose. But the difference in treatment is not of the organization's making: it is due solely to the working of French tax law."
Keywords:
domestic law; equal treatment; nationality; rate; refund; tax;
Judgment 1364
77th Session, 1994
European Patent Organisation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 11
Extract:
Vide Judgment 1324, consideration 9.
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 1324
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; equal treatment; home; home leave; nationality; official; refusal; request by a party;
Judgment 1324
76th Session, 1994
European Patent Organisation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 9
Extract:
The complainant is seeking a change, to which the organisation is opposed, in the designation it originally made upon recruitment of his official home. "It would offend against the principle of equal treatment [for a new] recruit who has strong ties with the country of one of two nationalities [to] get the automatic designation of a place in that country as 'home', while in identical circumstances another employee is refused designation of his home in that country simply because he is seeking review of a determination already made."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; complainant; equal treatment; home; home leave; nationality; place of origin;
Judgment 1249
74th Session, 1993
World Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 6
Extract:
"The impugned decision [not to renew the complainant's appointment] was warranted neither by the WHO's concern for the purported interests of the country of the complainant's nationality nor by its desire to keep on good terms and work effectively with its membership. Relations with a member state may be good without the Organization's allowing any of its Member States the right to interfere in the area of personnel management."
Keywords:
complainant; contract; decision; fixed-term; independence; international civil service principles; member state; nationality; non-renewal of contract; organisation; place of origin;
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;
Judgment 1217
74th Session, 1993
European Organization for Nuclear Research
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 14
Extract:
The complainant objects to CERN's refusal to change his home from that of which he is a citizen to another country. "The original determination of the home station on recruitment and any later change are incontrovertibly at the discretion of CERN, which has to give weight to the various criteria the Staff Regulations set. For the sake of sound management [...] the organization may set guidelines on the matter. So there can be no objection to its consistent policy of determining the staff member's home, barring evidence to the contrary, in his own country and allowing later change to some other country only where some change in circumstances so warrants."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; criteria; decision; discretion; home; home leave; judicial review; nationality; organisation's interest; place of origin; refusal;
Judgment 1099
71st Session, 1991
European Patent Organisation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Summary
Extract:
The complainant claims the expatriation allowance provided under Article 72 of the EPO Service Regulations for officials who, at the time of their appointment, have not been continuously resident in their duty station for the preceding three years. As he does not meet that requirement, he wants the time he spent in the Federal Republic of Germany to be discounted and he relies on the German wording of the provision, which refers to the official's being "permanently established" rather than "resident" at the duty station as in the English and French versions. The English and French versions being quite explicit, the German version must be interpreted in a way that reconciles all three. (Vide Judgment 926.)
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: ARTICLE 72 OF THE EPO SERVICE REGULATIONS
ILOAT Judgment(s): 926
Keywords:
condition; criteria; interpretation; language of rule; nationality; non-resident allowance; residence; staff regulations and rules;
Judgment 977
66th Session, 1989
International Labour Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 9(D)(V)
Extract:
"The Director-General ended the temporary appointment because he did not consider the complainant suitable for the post. [...] Nationality was an important criterion because the holder of the post must be able to travel to the [Occupied Arab] Territories without interference or difficulty. [...] The decision [...] was at the Director-General's discretion and the exercise of his discretion was proper."
Keywords:
assignment; criteria; discretion; nationality; qualifications;
Judgment 926
65th Session, 1988
European Patent Organisation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 6
Extract:
"It is plain from the text [of Article 72 of the Service Regulations] that the allowance is to be refused to an employee who is a citizen of the country where he is stationed unless at the time of appointment he has been continuously resident in another country for at least ten years. That is indeed the purport of the English and French texts, which are clear: the terms 'résident' and 'résidaient' do not necessarily connote permanent or established residence. The English and French versions being explicit, the German is to be interpreted in a way that reconciles all three; and in its English and French versions 72[3] requires that a citizen of the Federal Republic serving at Munich shall be paid the allowance only if at the time of appointment he has been 'continuously resident for at least 10 years' outside the Federal Republic."
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: ARTICLE 72 OF THE EPO SERVICE REGULATIONS
Keywords:
difference; duty station; interpretation; language of rule; nationality; non-resident allowance; residence;
Judgment 854
63rd Session, 1987
European Patent Organisation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Summary
Extract:
The complainant, a national of the Federal Republic of Germany, was initially appointed to The Hague, where he received an expatriation allowance; he was then transferred to Berlin where he no longer received the allowance. The complainant contends that he is still entitled to the allowance under Article 72[3] of the EPO Service Regulations since, even though a national of the country in which he is serving, he had been continuously resident in another State for at least 10 years at the time of appointment. The complainant takes the expression 'at the time of their appointment' to mean at the date of transfer. The interpretation is without merit. The complaint is dismissed.
Reference(s)
Organization rules reference: ARTICLE 72.3 OF THE EPO STAFF REGULATIONS
ILOAT Judgment(s): 786
Keywords:
interpretation; nationality; non-resident allowance; place of origin; provision; residence; right; staff regulations and rules;
Judgment 849
63rd Session, 1987
World Intellectual Property Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 3
Extract:
"It appears from the evidence as a whole that the Director General's decision was not based on any inability of the complainant to carry out his duties, nor on the unsatisfactory performance by him of those duties, nor on any considerations relating to the necessities of the service or the interests of the organization. It is clear that the Director General's conclusion [...] that the complainant was guilty of serious misconduct constituted the sole and underlying reason for exercising his discretion as he did. The Tribunal has quashed that decision in Judgment 848 and holds that the impugned decision in the present proceedings, based solely on a conclusion which is wrong in law, constitutes an abuse of authority and cannot be allowed to stand."
Reference(s)
ILOAT Judgment(s): 848
Keywords:
abuse of power; contract; fixed-term; grounds; misrepresentation; misuse of authority; nationality; non-renewal of contract; serious misconduct;
Judgment 848
63rd Session, 1987
World Intellectual Property Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 1
Extract:
The complainant stated on his employment application that he was of Chilean nationality. Learning that he didn't have a Chilean passport, the Director General imposed a written reprimand for serious misconduct. According to the Tribunal, "the Director General's decision that the complainant had not proved his Chilean nationality was based on an error of law and a failure to take essential facts into consideration. Therefore it cannot stand."
Keywords:
disciplinary measure; disregard of essential fact; evidence; flaw; misrepresentation; nationality; serious misconduct; warning;
Consideration 1
Extract:
"The undisputed evidence is that the complainant was endowed at birth with Chilean nationality in accordance with the laws of his country. [...] Among the documents exhibited in the dossier are copies of the complainant's birth certificate, his Chilean identity card, a safe-conduct [...] and, finally, a Chilean passport issued to him on 28 April 1986. All this is overwhelming proof of the complainant's right to Chilean nationality."
Keywords:
disclosure of evidence; evidence; nationality;
Consideration 1
Extract:
"The organization is bound to recognise that 'everyone has the right to a nationality' and that 'no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality', as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights approved on 10 December 1948. It should also have been guided by the definition of stateless persons set out in Article I of the Convention relating to the status of stateless persons of 28 September 1954 as 'a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law'."
Keywords:
definition; nationality; right; stateless;
Judgment 613
53rd Session, 1984
World Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Summary
Extract:
The complainant's present contract, converting the original, extended appointment, bears out his original status as a locally recruited member of the general service staff. At the time of signing he was aware of the Organization's position that he had local status. He made no objection until after the contract had come into force. "There is nothing in WHO Rules to oblige the Organization to grant non-local status to someone [...] merely because he is a citizen of a country other than that of the duty station or has been resident in the country of his nationality."
Keywords:
general service category; local status; nationality; non-local status; residence; terms of appointment;
Judgment 551
50th Session, 1983
European Patent Organisation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 5
Extract:
"A system which discriminates in the matter of promotion between officials according to their nationality seriously offends against the principle of equal treatment and should as a general rule be forbidden. [...] In the unusual circumstances of this case [in order] to establish a new secretariat, the Tribunal holds that the Administrative Council was free to lay down for a strictly limited period conditions for promotion which differed according to nationality." The object was to secure a balanced staff. There is no evidence to suggest any abuse of authority by the administration, and its action was therefore not unlawful.
Keywords:
equal treatment; nationality; promotion;
Consideration 5
Extract:
"Although international organisations may determine quotas for recruitment for the purpose of preserving or developing the international character of the staff, officials are normally entitled to objective treatment after they have taken up duty. This is a general rule. If in any particular case it can be shown that a scheme for determining quotas on recruitment would not work satisfactorily unless it was extended in a limited way to subsequent promotion, an exception may be justified."
Keywords:
appointment; equal treatment; geographical distribution; nationality; promotion;
Consideration 4
Extract:
"The nationals of what may be called the home country of an organisation enjoy because of their nationality advantages denied to the nationals of other countries. [...] It has generally been accepted that an organisation may offer special benefits to staff recruited abroad, since without some compensation such staff would be in a worse position financially than staff recruited in the home country."
Keywords:
equal treatment; nationality; terms of appointment;
Judgment 534
49th Session, 1982
International Labour Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 4
Extract:
"The complainant retorts that he was discriminated against on the grounds of his nationality and religion. There is no evidence in what the ILO did of any such abuse of authority. Besides, pending the hearing of this case by the Tribunal the ILO has offered the complainant alternative employment which he seems willing to accept."
Keywords:
bias; lack of evidence; nationality; transfer;
Judgment 525
49th Session, 1982
European Patent Organisation
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 5, Summary
Extract:
The "home" should not in all cases be regarded as the country of birth. The rule refers to the place with which the staff member has the closest connection, with respect to place of residence of his family, where he was brought up and any place where he possesses property. The President's decision is based on a mistake of law, its sole foundation consists of concerns related to the country of birth; that was a mistake of law.
Keywords:
criteria; home; nationality; place of origin;
Consideration 2
Extract:
The notion of 'home' "is determined according to several criteria which include not just origin and nationality but also family connections, spiritual, material and psychological links and which serve to identify the focus of his interests and the place where it may be reasonably assumed that he intends to take up permanent residence."
Keywords:
criteria; home; nationality; other; place of origin;
Judgment 415
44th Session, 1980
World Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 5
Extract:
The complainant's post was abolished and she was not offered two vacant posts. The Tribunal draws the inference "that the continuation of her own work was not offered to the complainant (who would have accepted it, although at a lower grade) with the consequent renewal of her contract, because a decision had already been taken not to extend her contract on the grounds of her nationality."
Keywords:
abolition of post; contract; fixed-term; grounds; nationality; non-renewal of contract;
Judgment 319
39th Session, 1977
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 4
Extract:
The rules exclude from the material benefits two categories of officials. The first consists of those who adopt the nationality of the duty station, who may be regarded as having broken their links with their country of origin. Having changed their way of living, they are no longer in need of the special benefits. The other category is made up of local officials who give up the nationality of the duty station. They do not thereby change their way of living and so are not qualified for benefits framed for those who are moving from one country to another.
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; consequence; local status; nationality; non-local status; status of complainant;
Summary
Extract:
When she was recruited, the complainant had local status. She later married, acquired a new nationality by naturalisation and lost her original nationality. The Tribunal holds that her status is dependent on her nationality at the time of appointment. According to the relevant provisions, a change of nationality does not in itself entail a change in status. The complainant is not entitled to the benefits provided for officials who leave their own country to live in another. The complaint is dismissed.
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; appointment; consequence; local status; marital status; nationality; non-local status;
Consideration 3
Extract:
The text cited "is merely pointing out [...] that a change of status may be caused by a number of factors which it specifies and of which a change of nationality is one. It does not mean that every rule dealing with a change of nationality has to be interpreted, even if contrary to its express words, to effect a change of status."
Keywords:
amendment to the rules; consequence; local status; nationality; non-local status; status of complainant;
Judgment 272
36th Session, 1976
Pan American Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Consideration 2
Extract:
The complainant invites the Tribunal to rule that she was "internationally recruited" and therefore subject to the benefits provided for by the applicable provisions. The term does not appear in any of the provisions cited; no definition of the term is to be found in the dossier. "The Tribunal takes it to mean that staff whose nationality and/or residence at the time of recruitment was not that of the country in which the duty station for which they were recruited is situated."
Keywords:
appointment; definition; duty station; nationality; no provision; non-local status; residence;
Judgment 220
31st Session, 1973
International Patent Institute
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations
Extract:
The material provision conferred a right on staff members which could only be withdrawn when circumstances, such as changes in the exchange regulations, require. The regulations introduced by the French government forced the organisation to obtain a supply of financial francs, which it could do without great difficulty. In refusing to allow officials of French nationality the benefit of the former provision, the Director-General misconstrued the meaning and scope of the provision and violated the principle of equal treatment. The decisions impugned shall be set aside.
Keywords:
equal treatment; nationality; organisation's duties; salary;
Considerations
Extract:
The decision is one the complainant impugns insofar as it "affects him as a French national". Staff members of French nationality whose interests are identical, "accordingly have an interest in intervening [...] Their intervention is therefore receivable. Staff members [...] of Belgian and Luxembourg nationality, who are subject to different national laws and regulations, have not the same interests as [the complainant], and accordingly their intervention is not receivable."
Keywords:
cause of action; intervention; nationality; receivability of the complaint;
Judgment 212
31st Session, 1973
World Health Organization
Extracts: EN,
FR
Full Judgment Text: EN,
FR
Considerations
Extract:
"A policy of discrimination is blame worthy and objectionable only if it aims at the exclusion of certain persons as a matter of principle on account of their nationality, race or opinions. It is normal and even desirable if it is based on the professional qualifications and merits of the persons concerned."
Keywords:
bias; criteria; equal treatment; nationality; qualifications; work appraisal;
