Administration of Justice at the United Nations

A/RES/78/248View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 144 Administration of justice at the United Nations, published in 2023.

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?

15 operative paragraphs

This extracted fulltext may contain errors or omissions. Please check the source document.

Takes note of the report 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;

Commends the Secretary-General for ensuring the availability of outreach documents in all six official languages, requests the Secretary-General to intensify his efforts 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 future reports;

Recalls paragraph 6 of the report of the Advisory Committee, and further requests the Secretary-General to provide a comprehensive assessment of the functioning of the system of administration of justice in his next report;

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;

Decides to regularize the pilot project for access of non-staff personnel to the services of the Office of the United Nations Ombudsman and Mediation Services, within existing resources;

III.Formal system

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

Recalls paragraph 7 of its resolution 63/253, and reaffirms that interns, type II gratis personnel and volunteers (other than United Nations Volunteers) shall have the possibility of requesting an appropriate management evaluation but shall not have access to the United Nations Dispute Tribunal or to the United Nations Appeals Tribunal;

Decides to approve the following amendment to the statute of the United Nations Dispute Tribunal:

Article 9, new paragraph 4:

4. In hearing an application to appeal an administrative decision imposing a disciplinary measure, the Dispute Tribunal shall pass judgment on the application by conducting a judicial review. In conducting a judicial review, the Dispute Tribunal shall consider the record assembled by the Secretary-General and may admit other evidence to make an assessment on whether the facts on which the disciplinary measure was based have been established by evidence; whether the established facts legally amount to misconduct; whether the applicant’s due process rights were observed; and whether the disciplinary measure imposed was proportionate to the offence.

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;

Recalls paragraph 44 of its resolution 73/276 and paragraph 35 of its resolution 77/260, stresses that the system of administration of justice must work in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the legal and regulatory framework approved by the General Assembly, and reaffirms that the Dispute Tribunal and the Appeals Tribunal shall exercise their powers according to their respective statutes.

50th (resumed) plenary meeting

22 December 2023

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?