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STAFF RULES OF THE GENERAL SECRETARIAT
HEARING AND RECONSIDERATION
Rule 112.1 Procedure for Hearing by the Secretary General
Before the Secretary General takes a final decision on an administrative measure affecting the interests of a staff member, the latter has the right to be heard, and the following procedure shall be applied for this purpose:
(a) The interested party, within 15 days following the date on which he received notification of the measure affecting his interest, may explain in writing to the Secretary General why he considers the measure taken against him is not justified.
(b) Within 20 days following the interested staff member's presentation of his written statement, the Secretary General shall decide whether to withdraw the measure, confirm it, or change it.
(c) Within three working days after it has been taken, the interested party must be notified in writing of the Secretary General's decision.
(d) For challenging the classification level of a post, the requirements under Rule 102.4(c) must be fully satisfied.
(e) For purposes of the hearing and reconsideration process, time periods of five days or less refer to working days; time periods of more than five days refer to calendar days.
If a staff member does not agree with the decision taken by the Secretary General in accordance with Rule 111.3(g), the dismissal referred to in Rule 110.5, or the decision taken in accordance with Rule 112.1(b), he may present a request to the Secretary General for reconsideration within 15 days following the day on which he received notification of such decision. A staff member may follow this same procedure if 23 days after the date on which he presented the written request referred to in Rule 112.1(a), he has not yet been notified of the Secretary General's decision.
Rule 112.3 Joint Advisory Committee on Reconsideration
(a) A Joint Advisory Committee on Reconsideration is established to advise the Secretary General on the cases referred to in Rule 112.2.
(b) Where measures based on Rule 110.4(c) are concerned, the Committee shall not examine the substantive question, but only the facts intended to prove that the decision has been motivated by prejudice or by some other irrelevant factor.
(c) The Committee shall decide on questions relative to its own competence.
Rule 112.4 Membership of the Joint Advisory Committee on Reconsideration
(a) The Joint Advisory Committee on Reconsideration shall be made up of three members, designated as follows:
(i) A principal member and two alternates appointed each year by the Secretary General;
(ii) A principal member and two alternates appointed each year by the Staff Committee; and
(iii) A chairman, appointed in each case by agreement of the other two members. The chairman may be someone outside of the General Secretariat.
(b) Anyone who has taken part in the Joint Disciplinary Committee in a particular matter may not hear the same matter as a member of the Joint Advisory Committee on Reconsideration.
(c) Members of the Joint Advisory Committee on Reconsideration may not be appointed for more than two consecutive terms.
(d) Members of the Joint Advisory Committee on Reconsideration may be replaced in the same manner established for the Joint Disciplinary Committee in Rule 111.2(d).
(e) At the request of any of the parties, the Committee may declare that one of its members may not hear a particular matter, provided it concludes that: (i) the request is reasonable; (ii) the request is made in good faith; and (iii) the granting of the request is merited in view of the prior relations existing between the Committee member and the staff member affected. It may also excuse any member of the Committee from hearing a particular matter.
Rule 112.5 Procedure for Reconsideration
(a) Within ten working days after the date on which he receives the request for reconsideration referred to in Rule 112.2, the Secretary General shall transmit this request to the two members of the Joint Advisory Committee on Reconsideration already appointed. Once it is confirmed who the two members of the Committee will be for a case, the two members shall, within the next five working days, appoint the third member to serve as chairman.
(b) Except in highly justified cases, which must be explained in the Committee's report, the Committee shall not hear any request presented outside of the periods established.
(c) The staff member affected may act in his own behalf or through another staff member of the General Secretariat designated by him in a written communication addressed to the Chairman of the Committee. He may not be represented by anyone outside of the General Secretariat. The Secretary General may also be represented by any staff member, who shall be designated in the same way.
(d) The request for reconsideration provided for in Rule 112.2 shall not suspend implementation of the decision being questioned.
(e) The Joint Advisory Committee on Reconsideration shall act as speedily as possible in its review of the case. Normally, the procedure shall be restricted to consideration of the written statement by the complainant and of the observations and oral or written comments presented by him and by the Secretary General or their representatives. Taking into account the period indicated in paragraph (h), the observations or comments authorized by the Committee must be presented within five working days. Any supplementary observations must be presented within three working days from the date on which the Committee authorizes them.
(f) The Committee may call members of the staff of the General Secretariat who may be able to provide information on the matters before it. It may also require the submission of documents.
(g) During the hearing of the case, the Committee shall attempt to reconcile the parties and shall have conciliatory powers for this purpose.
(h) The Committee shall adopt a report by majority vote and submit it to the Secretary General within 28 days following the date on which it began its review of the matter. The report shall include a summary of the problem, an account of the Committee's actions, its recommendations, and its vote on the recommendations. Any member of the Committee may request that his dissenting opinion appear in the report.
(i) Within two working days after the Committee has delivered its report to the Secretary General, the staff member concerned shall be notified of this fact.
(j) The Secretary General shall make his final decision within 28 days after the Committee has delivered its report to him. Within two working days following that final decision, the staff member concerned shall be so notified and shall also be sent a copy of the Committee's report. Except when the reconsideration refers to disciplinary measures, the Secretary General's decision and the Committee's report shall also be transmitted to the Staff Committee.
(k) If the interested party has not been notified of the final decision within 30 days after the date on which the report of the Committee was delivered to the Secretary General, it shall be understood that the staff member has exhausted the procedures contemplated in the General Standards and, consequently, he may appeal to the Administrative Tribunal of the Organization in accordance with Article VI.3 of the Statute of the Tribunal.
Rule 112.6 Services of the Department of Human Resource Services and Official Duties
The Department of Human Resource Services shall be available to the Joint Advisory Committee on Reconsideration and to the staff member concerned during the time that the case is being processed. The time taken by all participants during Advisory Committee meetings, the time taken by Department of Human Resource Services personnel in the reconsideration process, and the time taken by Committee members in preparation for their meetings and in activities related to preparing the Committee's report shall be considered devoted to official duties, and consequently no annual leave shall be charged for this purpose.
Rule 112.7 Time Limits Compliance by the Secretary General
Failure of the Secretary General to comply with any of the time limits set forth in this Chapter XII shall not provide grounds for an allegation of the denial of due process or give rise to any right of indemnity, provided that the Secretary General has made a good-faith effort, through due diligence, to comply with the time limits in the Chapter. Nonetheless, the failure of the Secretary General to respond within the time periods set out in these Rules shall not prevent a staff member who has fully complied with his obligations within those time periods from pursuing his grievance through the administrative and adjudicatory process provided herein.
