UN ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL LAUNCHES WEBSITE

UN ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL LAUNCHES WEBSITE

The United Nations Administrative Tribunal (UNAT) is pleased to announce that it has launched a website at http://www.un.org/law/unat, providing information about the Tribunal, including its history, role in the Organization, and how to contact the Tribunal secretariat.  The website will operate in English and French, the working languages of the Tribunal.

The website is designed to assist staff members and their representatives wishing to file an application with the Tribunal and will enable them to better present their cases.  The full text of the Tribunal’s jurisprudence is now available at the click of a mouse to anyone with access to the Internet, and the user-friendly search function will provide answers to frequently asked questions and assist all parties in researching legal issues and/or the Tribunal in general.

The United Nations Administrative Tribunal was established in 1950 by the General Assembly, for the purpose of resolving employment-related disputes between United Nations staff and the Organization (Secretary-General, or head of other organizations).  It is the highest appellate body in the internal administration of justice system and the only body that issues binding judgements.  The Tribunal is an independent organ, composed of seven members, no two of whom may be nationals of the same State.  Their terms of appointment are four years, and they may be reappointed once.

The competence of the Tribunal extends to the Pension Fund (including pension-related cases from all specialized agencies that participate in the Fund), the United Nations programmes and Funds (the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Environment Programme, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, United Nations Children’s Fund, United Nations Population Fund, World Food Programme and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime), such specialized agencies and related organizations that have accepted the competence of the Tribunal (the International Maritime Organization and International Civil Aviation Organization), and the staff of the Registries of the International Court of Justice, International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and International Seabed Authority.

The Tribunal holds two sessions a year, one in Geneva and one in New York, each for a five-week period.  It renders approximately 60 judgements per year, disposing of about 70 cases.  To date, the Tribunal has issued more than 1,200 judgements.  It takes about one year and a half to complete a case before the Tribunal.

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For information media • not an official record