Abstract
This chapter analyzes the origins of the internal justice system of the United Nations and the defense rights of international staff members in the context of disciplinary proceedings. The text is structured in three parts: the first part, addresses the origins of the internal justice system and the creation of its two tribunals (a first instance court—UNDT) and an appeals court (UNAT). The second part identifies the main legal principles that emerged from the internal jurisprudence related to staff member’s procedural rights and thirdly, the internal jurisprudence is tested under the hermeneutical framework of Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights. The purpose was to evaluate whether there is a convergence between the jurisdictional practice of the United Nations and the parameters provided for by the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, concerning fair trials.
Teresa da Silva Bravo is Judge President of the United Nations Dispute Tribunal.
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Notes
- 1.
In this regard, recall the case law of the ECHR in Judgements of 18 February 1999—Waite and Kennedy (Case 28934/95) and Beer and Regan v. Germany (Case 26083/94) and the decision of 6 January 2015 held in Klausecker v. Germany (415/07-5th Section) available online at https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22fulltext%22:[%22Waite%20and%20Kennedy%20and%20Beer%20and%20Regan%20v.%20Germany%22],%22documentcollectionid2%22:[%22JUDGMENTS%22,%22DECGRANDCHAMBER%22]}, assessed on 3rd April 2019.
- 2.
See recently, the UNDT Geneva’s judgement (UNDT/GVA/2016/092) which clarifies the scope of the SG’s powers, available online at https://www.un.org/en/internaljustice/undt/judgments_2016.shtml, assessed on 3rd April 2019.
- 3.
See, Report of the Redesign Panel on the United Nations System of Administration of Justice, A/61/205, which was subject of discussion at the 61 session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, held on 28 de July 2006, available online at: https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/61/815, assessed on 3rd April 2019.
- 4.
See, Report of the Group of High Level Intergovernmental Experts to Review the Efficiency of the Administrative and Financial Functioning of the United Nations, UM Doc.A/41/49, August, 15, 1986, available online at https://undocs.org/pdf?symbol=en/A/43/16, assessed on 3rd April 2019.
- 5.
The Internal Justice Council (IJC) consists of a panel of 5 member’s which includes three outside experts, one representative of management and a representative of staff members.
- 6.
See, also GA Resolutions 69/203 and GA R. A/70/112, available at https://www.undocs.org/, assessed on 3rd April 2019.
- 7.
These Rules of Procedure were adopted by the UNDT Judges, gathered in New York during their Plenary Meeting and later approved by the GA Resolution 64/119, dated the 16 December 2009.
- 8.
See, Judgement 2011-UNAT-120, available online at: https://www.un.org/en/internaljustice/unat/judgments_2011.shtml, assessed on 3rd April 2019.
- 9.
Available online at https://www.un.org/en/internaljustice/undt/judgments-orders.shtml, assessed on 3rd April 2019.
- 10.
See, ST/AI/2017/1, available online at https://undocs.org/ST/AI/2017/1, assessed on 3rd April 2019.
- 11.
This was also confirmed in Mahdi 2010-UNAT-018 para. 27; Masri 2010-UNAT-098; Applicant 2013-UNAT-302 para. 29; Kamara 2014-UNAT-398 para. 29; Nasrallah 2013-UNAT-310 para. 23; Walden 2014-UNAT-436 para.24; Koutang 2013-UNAT-374 para. 28; Portillo Moya 2015-UNAT-523 para. 17; Wishah 2015-UNAT-537 para. 20, available online at http://untreaty.un.org/UNAT/Judgements_English_By_Number.htm, assessed on 3rd April 2019.
- 12.
See, Palmisano (2017), pp. 1 and 2.
- 13.
See, Engel and others, para. 81; (Applic.5100/71, 5101/71, 5102/71, 5354/72 and 5370/72), judgement held on 21 October 1976. https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng, assessed on 3rd April 2019.
- 14.
21, See also: Salabiaku v. France, (Case 1051/83) judgement dated the 7th October 1998, para. 28, Västberga Taxi Aktiebolag e Vulic v. Sweden, ECtHR, (case 36985/97) judgement 23 July 2002 at para. 113, alla available online at: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng, assessed on 3rd April 2019.
- 15.
Concerning the issue of cooperation between the UN and law enforcement national authorities see UNDT/2017/091, held on 29.11.2017 available at http://www.un.org/en/oaj/files/undt/judgments/undt-2017-091.pdf.
References
Articles
Palmisano, G. (2017). The European Social Charter as an instrument for the protection of fundamental rights within the international organisation. In Common Focus and Autonomy of International Administrative Tribunals- International Colloquy, March 2017, Council of Europe. https://mycloud.coe.int/index.php/s/0cc69e006be76be09bc57556dc6e5a1c?path=%2
Electronic Resources
United Nations Internal Justice System
UNDT/GVA/2017/020/029/031/037
UNDT/GVA/2016/092
UNAT/2015/530
UNAT/2015/555
UNAT/2015/505
UNAT/2015/518
UNAT/2015/523
UNAT/2014/408
UNAT/2013/366
UNAT/2013/295
UNAT/2010/115
UNAT/2010/022
UNAT/2010/024
UNAT/2010/100
European Court of Human Rights
Case 28934/95, Waite and Kennedy vs. Germany
Case 26083/94, Beer and Regan vs. Germany
Decision of the 5th Section 415/07, Klausecker. vs. Germany
Cases 5100/71, 5101/71, 5102/71, 5102/71, 5354/72 and 5370/72, Engel and Others
Case 10828/84, Funke vs. France
Case 1051/83, Salabiaku. v.. France
Case 13972/88, Imbrioscia.v. Switzerland
Case 36391/02, Salduz v. Turkey
Case 36985/97, Vasterberga Taxi Aktiebolag e Vulic. V. Sweden
International Labor Organisation Administrative Tribunal
Chadsey Judgement No. 122/1968
Rubio Judgement No. 1644/1997
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da Silva Bravo, T. (2019). The United Nations’ Internal Justice System and Fair Trial Rights of International Staff Members in Disciplinary Proceedings. In: Pinto de Albuquerque, P., Wojtyczek, K. (eds) Judicial Power in a Globalized World. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20744-1_34
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