Administration of Justice at the United Nations

A/RES/76/242View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 147 Administration of justice at the United Nations, published in 2021.

What other versions does this mandate have?

23 versions · 2004–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/80/238

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	A/RES/80/238	Administration of justice at the United Nations	1,746	55%Compare
2024	A/RES/79/254	Administration of justice at the United Nations	1,824	40%Compare
2023	A/RES/78/248	Administration of justice at the United Nations	967	34%Compare
2023	A/RES/77/260	Administration of justice at the United Nations	2,141	46%Compare
2022	A/RES/76/242	Administration of justice at the United Nations	1,242	43%Compare

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

2 entities

Entity	(Sub-)Programme	Title	Total mandates cited	Expenditure
	Section 1	Overall policymaking, direction and coordination	13
	Section 1	Overall policymaking, direction and coordination	11

Historical expenditure covers the complete programme or subprogramme, not this mandate. For an overview of all UN entities and programmes, see UN entities and programmes.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

2 entities

Entity	(Sub-)Programme	Title	Total mandates cited	Expenditure
	Section 1	Overall policymaking, direction and coordination	13	—
	Section 1	Overall policymaking, direction and coordination	11	—

Historical expenditure covers the complete programme or subprogramme, not this mandate. For an overview of all UN entities and programmes, see UN entities and programmes.

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

15 reports · 2005–2013

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2013	A/68/158	Activities of the Office of the United Nations Ombudsman and Mediation Services report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/67/241
2012	A/67/172	Activities of the Office of the United Nations Ombudsman and Mediation Services report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/66/237
2011	A/66/224	Activities of the Office of the United Nations Ombudsman and Mediation Services report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/65/251
2010	A/65/332	Measures taken to address systemic human resources issues raised by the Office of the United Nations Ombudsman and Mediation Services report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/63/253A/RES/64/233
2010	A/65/303	Activities of the Office of the United Nations Ombudsman and Mediation Services report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/64/233

What subjects does this mandate have?

5 subjects

Administration of Justice Grievance Procedures Labour Disputes Legal Remedies Legal Services

What’s in this document?

21 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the reports of the Secretary-General on administration of justice at the United Nations and on the activities of the Office of the United Nations Ombudsman and Mediation Services, the report of the Internal Justice Council on administration of justice at the United Nations and the related report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions;

Endorses the conclusions and recommendations contained in the report of the Advisory Committee;

I.System of administration of justice

Emphasizes the importance of the principle of judicial independence in the system of administration of justice;

Stresses the importance of ensuring access for all staff members to the system of administration of justice, regardless of their duty station;

Acknowledges the evolving nature of the system of administration of justice and the need to carefully monitor its implementation to ensure that it remains within the parameters set out by the General Assembly;

6.‎ Reaffirms its decision, contained in paragraph 4 of its resolution 61/261, to establish a new, independent, transparent, professionalized, adequately resourced and decentralized system of administration of justice consistent with the relevant rules of international law and the principles of the rule of law and due process to ensure respect for the rights and obligations of staff members and the accountability of managers and staff members alike;

Requests the Secretary-General to continue to ensure a strong culture of accountability throughout the Secretariat, in particular with proactive and transparent application of the United Nations three-pillared approach to the management of misconduct, namely, prevention, enforcement and remedial action, and to ensure access to effective remedies for all categories of personnel;

Also requests the Secretary-General to continue to hold managers accountable when their decisions have been established to be grossly negligent according to the applicable Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations⁶ and have led to litigation and subsequent financial loss, and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its seventy-seventh session;

⁶ST/SGB/2018/1/Rev.1.

Commends the Secretary-General for ensuring the availability of outreach documents in all six official languages, requests the Secretary-General to continue to take measures to implement multilingualism within the system of administration of justice, and also requests the Secretary-General to report on his efforts to continue to promote multilingualism in the system of administration of justice in the context of his next reports;

Reiterates that retaliation against complainants or staff appearing as witnesses constitutes misconduct, notes with appreciation the policy on protection against retaliation for reporting misconduct and for cooperating with duly authorized audits or investigations⁷ as well as the efforts to continuously improve the framework for protection from retaliation, and in this regard requests the Secretary-General to provide information on the implementation of the policy for all categories of personnel covered in his next report;

⁷ST/SGB/2017/2/Rev.1.

II.Informal system

Recognizes that the informal system of administration of justice is an efficient and effective option both for staff who seek redress of grievances and for the participation of managers;

Reaffirms that the informal resolution of conflict is a crucial element of the system of administration of justice, emphasizes that all possible use should be made of the informal system in order to avoid unnecessary litigation, without prejudice to the basic right of staff members to access the formal system, and encourages recourse to the informal resolution of disputes;

Also reaffirms the importance of the informal dispute resolution process in the Organization, which represents an effective method of dispute resolution as compared with the formal process, and the central role of mediation, and emphasizes that all possible use should be made of the informal system;

Notes the efforts of the Secretary-General to promote knowledge and awareness of and action on racism within the Organization, and reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to include information on racism and cases involving racial discrimination in the context of his next report on the activities of the Office of the United Nations Ombudsman and Mediation Services;

III.Formal system

Recognizes the ongoing positive contribution of the Office of Staff Legal Assistance to the system of administration of justice;

Recalls paragraph 27 of its resolution 75/248, appreciates the efforts of the United Nations Dispute Tribunal and the Office of Administration of Justice to develop and implement the case disposal plan, and welcomes the launch of the real-time case-tracking dashboard;

Notes with concern the impact of dual employment of the full-time judges on the prompt and efficient performance of their judicial duties, and urges the full-time judges of the Dispute Tribunal not to hold any other employment so as to ensure the credibility and efficiency of the internal justice system;

Requests the Secretary-General, in consultation with the Dispute Tribunal and the United Nations Appeals Tribunal, to include, in the context of his next report, his views regarding the recommendation of the Internal Justice Council for the appointment of a president for a term of seven years;

Also requests the Secretary-General to continue to track the data on the number of cases received by the Management Evaluation Unit and the Dispute Tribunal in order to identify any emerging trends, and to report thereon in the context of his next report;

Notes the continuing high opt-out rates from the voluntary staff funding mechanism, and in this regard encourages the Secretary-General to intensify his efforts to strengthen incentives for staff not to opt out, particularly in locations and United Nations entities where the participation rate is low, and to report on measures taken in this regard in the context of his next report;

IV.Other issues

Invites the Sixth Committee to consider the legal aspects of the report to be submitted by the Secretary-General, without prejudice to the role of the Fifth Committee as the Main Committee entrusted with responsibilities for administrative and budgetary matters;

Decides to approve the proposed amendments to articles 8.2 (a) and 9.2 (a) and to articles 24, 25, 26 and 27 of the rules of procedure of the Appeals Tribunal, as adopted by the Appeals Tribunal on 24 October 2019 and 19 October 2020, respectively.⁸

⁸See A/75/162, annex I, and A/76/99, annex I.

54th resumed plenary meeting

24 December 2021

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

I.System of administration of justice

II.Informal system

III.Formal system

IV.Other issues

Table of contents

Who cites this mandate in the budget?