UNAT Held or UNDT Pronouncements
The UNAT held that BK’s appeal of a case management order does not fall in the narrow set of cases where the UNDT manifestly exceeded its jurisdiction or powers in determining an interlocutory issue. His requests for anonymity in both of his UNDT cases were granted, and there is no indication that despite anonymity, any identifying material could have been disclosed in any of the publicly available records. Nor did the UNDT’s decision to proceed to final judgment exceed its jurisdiction.
The UNAT held that the UNDT’s denial of BK’s inadequately supported requests for a stay, and proceeding to judgment, was consistent with its authority to “issue any order or give any direction which appears ... to be appropriate for the fair and expeditious disposal of the case and to do justice to the parties”.
The UNAT noted that BK retained the right, within applicable time limits, to appeal the final judgment of the UNDT. One ground for any such appeal is that the UNDT committed an error in procedure, such as to affect the decision of the case.
The UNAT dismissed BK’s appeal as not receivable.
Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed
A staff member of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) contested a decision of the UNHCR Medical Section to declare his Periodic Medical Examination invalid and to consider him unfit to work.
The staff member filed a motion for suspension of the proceedings pending the issuance of Judgment in Case No. UNDT/GVA/2023/023, another matter in which the staff member was also the applicant. He contended that confidential medical information in the first proceeding risked making him identifiable in the latter case.
In Order No. 70 (GVA/2025), the UNDT rejected the staff member’s motion to suspend proceedings on the ground that Case No. UNDT/GVA/2023/023, concerned a separate and distinct contested decision, that the staff member’s anonymity is ensured in both matters and that any forthcoming judgments would not disclose confidential medical information.
The staff member filed an interlocutory appeal of Order No. 70 (GVA/2025).
Legal Principle(s)
To be receivable, an appeal must be against “a judgement”, and also assert that the Dispute Tribunal: (a) exceeded its jurisdiction or competence; (b) failed to exercise jurisdiction vested in it; (c) erred on a question of law; (d) committed an error in procedure, such as to affect the decision of the case; or (e) erred on a question of fact, resulting in a manifestly unreasonable decision.
The Appeals Tribunal’s precedents establish that its jurisdiction, while generally restricted to appeals over final judgments, may also be invoked in the narrow set of cases in which it can be shown that the UNDT manifestly exceeded its jurisdiction or powers in determining an interlocutory issue, or acted in such a way as to create a risk of immediate irreparable harm to the applicant which could not be remedied in the normal course of appellate review.