SECRETARY-GENERAL ACCEPTS FINDINGS OF ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL IN CASES OF EREN, ROBERTSON, SELLBERG AND THOMPSON
Press Release
SG/SM/5907/Rev.1*
ORG/1215/Rev.1
SECRETARY-GENERAL ACCEPTS FINDINGS OF ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL IN CASES OF EREN, ROBERTSON, SELLBERG AND THOMPSON
19960304 The following was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali:The Secretary-General has accepted the findings of the United Nations Administrative Tribunal in the cases of Sirri Eren, Allen Robertson, Sven Sellberg and J.P. Thompson, Judgement No. 744 released on 1 February, and has removed all material from the files of Messrs. Eren, Robertson, Sellberg and Thompson which reflected his earlier conclusion. The Secretary-General considered that it was appropriate to issue a press release to make known the views of the Tribunal and to inform staff through the cc: Mail System.
The issues in Judgement No. 744 were the decisions of the Secretary- General, dated 21 December 1994, to impose disciplinary measures on the Applicants for alleged improprieties and irregularities in connection with large-scale procurement activities for peace-keeping operations. These included in particular procurement for air transportation services for the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) prior to 1993, a great part of which had been conducted with one contractor.
In his decision of 21 December 1994, the Secretary-General accepted the advice of the Joint Disciplinary Committee that the Applicants' conduct did not involve any intent to favour a specific contractor but, noting a number of important remarks by the Committee on their job performance, decided that the shortcomings underlined by the Committee required disciplinary sanctions.
However, the Tribunal judged that once the four Applicants were cleared of the charge to favour a specific contractor, no further disciplinary sanctions could be imposed on the basis of initial charges laid before the Joint Disciplinary Committee. The Tribunal expressed the view that any charges related to failures in performance should have been addressed in a distinct procedure and that, in this case, "absent the wrongful intent originally charged", the performance matters raised by the Committee were not of a "disciplinary nature".
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* Revised to reflect additional language, as indicated.
- 2 - Press Release SG/SM/5907/Rev.1 ORG/1215/Rev.1 4 March 1996
The Tribunal concluded that the disciplinary measures against the Applicants were unwarranted and ordered "that all references to the imposition of the disciplinary measures be expunged from the personnel files of the Applicants and that a copy of this judgement be placed in them". The Secretary-General has complied with these orders of the Tribunal.
The Tribunal also ordered "that the Respondent pay the Applicants Eren, Robertson, and Thompson and the estate of the Applicant Sellberg: (a) the sum of $20,000 and (b) the difference in remuneration and other emoluments between what was actually received by the Applicants and what they would have been entitled to, in the absence of disciplinary measures, from the date of their suspension from service to the date on which the Tribunal's Judgement is implemented by the Respondent". The Secretary-General ordered that these payments be made before 1 March 1996.
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