Administration of Justice in the Secretariat

A/RES/57/307View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 123 Administration of justice at the United Nations, published in 2003.

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

2 reports · 2004

Year	Symbol	Title		Mandate resolution
2004	A/59/449	Administration of justice in the Secretariat report of the Secretary-General		A/RES/57/307
2004	A/59/414	Administration of justice in the Secretariat role of the Panels on Discrimination and Other Grievances : report of the Secretary-General		A/RES/57/307

What subjects does this mandate have?

17 subjects

Accountability Administration of Justice Administrative Law Administrative Reform Appellate Procedure Conciliation Financial Implications Grievance Procedures Interpersonal Communication Judicial Statistics Legal Services Negligence Personnel Management Principles Report Preparation Rules and Regulations Standards

What’s in this document?

30 operative paragraphs

Stresses the urgent need to ensure effective and expeditious administration of justice in the Organization, and requests the Secretary-General to ensure that the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity, as well as the principles of fairness and due process, serve as the paramount considerations in the system of administration of justice within the United Nations;

Notes with concern that the related reports were not introduced at its fifty-sixth session, as requested in its resolution 55/258, in addition to being issued late for consideration at its current session;

Regrets that the present system of administration of justice in the Secretariat continues to be slow, cumbersome and costly;

Also regrets the serious delays in the appeals process, and requests the Secretary-General to ensure full cooperation and accountability in the internal system of justice of the department or programme manager whose decision has been challenged by the appellant, at all stages of the process;

Requests the Secretary-General to take steps to ensure the independence of the United Nations Administrative Tribunal and the separation of its secretariat from the Office of Legal Affairs, to study the possibility of its financial independence and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its fifty-eighth session;

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the administration of justice in the Secretariat,1 the report of the Joint Inspection Unit entitled “Reform of the administration of justice in the United Nations system: options for higher recourse instances”2 and the comments of the Secretary-General and those of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination thereon3 and the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions;4

Endorses the recommendation of the Advisory Committee contained in paragraph 8 of its report;

Welcomes the initiative taken by the Secretary-General in requesting the Office of Internal Oversight Services to conduct a management review of the appeals process, and in this regard concurs with the observations and recommendations contained in paragraphs 6 and 7 of the report of the Advisory Committee;

Requests the Secretary-General, taking due account also of the findings of the Office of Internal Oversight Services, to submit a report containing alternatives on strengthening the administration of justice by means of ensuring transparency and fairness in the provision of justice to staff of the Organization, for consideration by the General Assembly at its fifty-eighth session;

Also requests the Secretary-General to entrust the Office of Internal Oversight Services with the inclusion in its report of measures to shorten the period required for the disposal of cases, including imposing deadlines at all stages of the process;

Further requests the Secretary-General to ensure that the Office of Internal Oversight Services includes in its report not only the procedures and functions related to the Joint Appeals Board but also those related to the Panel of Counsel, the Administrative Law Unit and the secretariats of the Joint Appeals Board and the Joint Disciplinary Committee, as well as their impact on and contribution to the administration of justice;

Welcomes the establishment of the post of Ombudsman to strengthen informal mechanisms for conflict resolution;

Also welcomes the organization of basic legal training courses for new members of the Joint Appeals Board and the Joint Disciplinary Committee, and encourages the Secretary-General to continue his efforts in this regard without additional budgetary implications;

Agrees that the United Nations Administrative Tribunal should be strengthened through an amendment to its statute requiring that the candidates for the Tribunal possess judicial experience in the field of administrative law or its equivalent within the candidate’s national jurisdiction, as recommended in paragraph 13 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and decides to take a decision on this matter at its fifty-eighth session;

Notes that the staff of the United Nations Secretariat and the specialized agencies are subject to two different systems of administration of justice, and in this regard requests the Joint Inspection Unit to continue to study the possibility of harmonizing the statutes of the United Nations Administrative Tribunal and the International Labour Organization Administrative Tribunal, bearing in mind the information contained in paragraphs 39 to 42 of the report of the Secretary-General,1 for consideration by the General Assembly at its fifty-ninth session;

Requests the Secretary-General to undertake a more in-depth analysis of the implications of ensuring that the executive heads of organizations collaborate with the staff associations in the development of comprehensive legal insurance schemes to cover legal advice and representation for staff, with a view to ensuring equality of all staff in adversary procedures and the widest possible access of staff to the administration of justice;

Also requests the Secretary-General to strengthen the Panel of Counsel, as appropriate, taking into account the management review report to be submitted by the Office of Internal Oversight Services;

Affirms that the functions of staff members appointed to serve on joint bodies in the administration of justice are official in nature and are valuable to the Organization;

Encourages the Secretary-General to ensure that staff members appointed to serve on joint bodies of the internal justice system are given sufficient time off from their substantive responsibilities to discharge their responsibilities, including adjustment of work in their substantive offices;

Requests the Secretary-General, in consultation with the Ombudsman and staff representatives, to submit detailed proposals on the role and work of the Panel on Discrimination and Other Grievances for consideration by the General Assembly at its fifty-eighth session;

Also requests the Secretary-General to include statistics on the disposition of cases and information on the work of the Panel of Counsel in his annual report on the administration of justice in the Secretariat;

Further requests the Secretary-General to distribute a hard copy of the annual report of the Panel of Counsel to Member States, upon request;

Requests the United Nations Administrative Tribunal to submit a comprehensive report on its activities to the General Assembly;

Reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to establish a clear linkage between the administration of justice and responsibility and accountability in the United Nations Secretariat when decisions of the Administrative Tribunal result in losses to the Organization due to management irregularities;

Also reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to develop, as a matter of priority, an effective system of personal responsibility and accountability to recover financial losses to the Organization caused by management irregularities, wrongful actions or gross negligence of officials of the United Nations Secretariat that result in judgements of the Administrative Tribunal, and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its fifty-eighth session;

Requests the Secretary-General to expeditiously finalize and issue an administrative instruction on the implementation of section XI, paragraph 9, of General Assembly resolution 55/258;

Also requests the Secretary-General to continue to ensure that all decisions affecting the status of the staff should be communicated to the staff members concerned;

Decides to amend staff rule 110.4 (a) to read: “No disciplinary proceedings may be instituted against a staff member unless he or she has been notified, in writing, of the allegations against him or her and of the right to seek the assistance of counsel in his or her defence at his or her own expense, and has been given a reasonable opportunity to respond to those allegations”, and to make similar amendments to staff rules 210.1 (b) and 310.1 (d);

Also decides to amend staff rule 111.2 (i) to read: “A staff member may arrange to have his or her appeal presented to the panel on his or her behalf by counsel, at his or her own expense”;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-eighth session the item entitled “Administration of justice at the United Nations”.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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