Administration of Justice at the United Nations

A/RES/62/228View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 137Administration of justice at the United Nations, published in 2007.

What other versions does this mandate have?

23 versions · 2004–2025

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

2025A/RES/80/238Administration of justice at the United NationsLatestCompare with previous version
2024A/RES/79/254Administration of justice at the United NationsCompare with previous version
2023A/RES/78/248Administration of justice at the United NationsCompare with previous version
2023A/RES/77/260Administration of justice at the United NationsCompare with previous version
2022A/RES/76/242Administration of justice at the United NationsCompare with previous version

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Who cites this mandate in the budget?

2 entities

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Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

2 reports of the Secretary-General submitted under this mandate, 2008–2009.

2009A/64/314Activities of the Office of the United Nations Ombudsman and Mediation Services report of the Secretary-General
2008A/63/132Measures taken to address 7 systemic human resources issues raised in the context of the reform of the internal system of administration of justice report of the Secretary-General

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What does this mandate say?

91 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the reports of the Secretary-General on revised estimates relating to the programme budget for the biennium 2006–2007 and the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2008–2009 pursuant to General Assembly resolution 61/261,Error: Reference source not found on the administration of justice,Error: Reference source not found on the outcome of the work of the Joint Appeals Board during 2005 and 2006 and statistics on the disposition of cases and work of the Panel of CounselError: Reference source not found and on the activities of the OmbudsmanError: Reference source not found and the related reports of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions;Error: Reference source not found

Recalls its decision 62/519 of 6 December 2007;

Endorses the conclusions and recommendations contained in the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, subject to the provisions of the present resolution;

I.New system of administration of justice

Stresses the importance of allocating adequate resources to establish the new system of administration of justice;

Acknowledges the evolving nature of the new system of administration of justice and the need to carefully monitor its implementation;

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

A.Scope

Decides that individuals who have access to the current system of administration of justice shall have access to the new system;

Also decides to revert to the issue of the scope of the system of administration of justice at the second part of its resumed sixty-second session, and requests information in this regard from the Secretary-General;

Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that the daily paid workers in peacekeeping missions are made aware of their rights and obligations and that they have access to suitable recourse procedures within the framework of the United Nations;

B.Office of Administration of Justice

Decides to establish the Office of Administration of Justice, comprising the Office of the Executive Director and the Office of Staff Legal Assistance, as well as the Registries for the United Nations Dispute Tribunal and the United Nations Appeals Tribunal;

Also decides that the Office of the Executive Director is to consist of one Executive Director (D-2), one Special Assistant (P-4) and one Administrative Assistant (General Service (Other level)), and requests the Secretary-General to ensure that these positions are filled as a matter of priority but no later than 1 July 2008;

C.Office of Staff Legal Assistance

Stresses that professional legal assistance is critical for the effective and appropriate utilization of the available mechanisms within the system of administration of justice;

Recalls paragraph 23 of its resolution 61/261, reiterates its support for the strengthening of professional legal assistance for staff in order for staff to continue to receive legal assistance, and decides to establish the Office of Staff Legal Assistance to succeed the Panel of Counsel;

Decides that the Office of Staff Legal Assistance is to consist of one Chief of Unit (P-5), one Legal Officer (P-3), one Legal Officer (P-2) and three Legal Assistants (General Service (Other level)) in New York, and one Legal Officer (P-3) each in Addis Ababa, Beirut, Geneva and Nairobi;

Also decides that staff at all duty stations shall continue to have access to legal assistance;

Requests the Secretary-General to establish a code of conduct regulating the activity of internal and external individuals providing legal assistance to staff to ensure their independence and impartiality;

Reiterates paragraph 24 of its resolution 61/261, and requests the Secretary-General to report on the progress made to establish a staff-funded scheme in the Organization that would provide legal advice and support to staff;

Requests the Secretary-General to develop incentives for staff and management, including through training opportunities, to enable and encourage staff to continue to participate in the work of the Office of Staff Legal Assistance;

Decides to revert to the issue of the mandate of the Office of Staff Legal Assistance at its sixty-third session;

Requests the Secretary-General to report on possible measures to encourage responsible use of the system of administration of justice;

Recognizes that the Office of Staff Legal Assistance and the Ombudsman have two distinct functions;

II.Informal system

Recognizes that the informal resolution of conflict is a crucial element of the system of administration of justice, and emphasizes that all possible use should be made of the informal system in order to avoid unnecessary litigation;

Also recognizes that the strengthening of the informal system may reduce recourse to the formal system, thereby avoiding unnecessary litigation;

Stresses the pivotal role of mediation in reconciling differences;

A.Office of the Ombudsman

Reiterates its decision to create a single integrated and decentralized Office of the Ombudsman for the United Nations Secretariat, funds and programmes, decides to establish the Office as from 1 January 2008, and urges the Office of the United Nations Ombudsman, the Office of the Joint Ombudsperson (United Nations Development Programme/United Nations Population Fund/United Nations Children’s Fund/United Nations Office for Project Services) and the Office of the Mediator of the Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to strengthen the ongoing efforts for coordination and harmonization of standards, operating guidelines, reporting categories and databases;

Decides to establish branch offices for the Office of the Ombudsman in Bangkok, Geneva, Nairobi, Santiago and Vienna, each with one Regional Ombudsman (P-5) and one Administrative Assistant (General Service (Other level/Local level));

Takes note of paragraph 22 of the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions;7

Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that staff at all duty stations have access to the Ombudsman;

Endorses the process of nomination and appointment of the Ombudsman, as set out in paragraphs 47 to 49 of the report of the Secretary-GeneralError: Reference source not found and recommended by the Redesign Panel on the United Nations system of administration of justice in its report;

B.Mediation Division

Endorses paragraph 21 of the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions,7 and decides to establish the Mediation Division as from 1 January 2008;

C.Systemic issues

Notes section IV, on systemic issues, of the report of the Secretary-General on the activities of the Ombudsman,Error: Reference source not found and emphasizes that the role of the Ombudsman is to report on broad systemic issues that he or she identifies, as well as those that are brought to his or her attention, in order to promote greater harmony in the workplace;

Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its sixty-third session, in the context of human resources management, on specific measures taken to address systemic issues;

III.Formal system

Reaffirms paragraphs 19 to 24 of its resolution 61/261;

Emphasizes the importance of ensuring access for all staff to the United Nations Dispute Tribunal, and requests the Secretary-General to make provisions for the travel and related costs of staff whose physical presence before the Tribunals is deemed necessary by the Tribunals and for judges to travel as necessary to hold sessions at duty stations other than New York, Geneva and Nairobi, in particular in Bangkok, Santiago and Vienna;

A.Internal Justice Council

Stresses that the establishment of an internal justice council can help to ensure independence, professionalism and accountability in the system of administration of justice;

Decides to establish by 1 March 2008 a five-member Internal Justice Council consisting of a staff representative, a management representative and two distinguished external jurists, one nominated by the staff and one by management, and chaired by a distinguished jurist chosen by consensus by the four other members;

Also decides that the Internal Justice Council shall perform the following tasks:

Liaise with the Office of Human Resources Management on issues related to the search for suitable candidates for the positions of judges, including by conducting interviews as necessary;

Provide its views and recommendations to the General Assembly on two or three candidates for each vacancy in the United Nations Dispute Tribunal and the United Nations Appeals Tribunal, with due regard to geographical distribution;

Draft a code of conduct for the judges, for consideration by the General Assembly;

Provide its views on the implementation of the system of administration of justice to the General Assembly;

Further decides that the Internal Justice Council shall be assisted, as appropriate, by the Office of Administration of Justice;

B.United Nations Dispute Tribunal and United Nations Appeals Tribunal

Decides to establish a two-tier formal system of administration of justice, comprising a first instance United Nations Dispute Tribunal and an appellate instance United Nations Appeals Tribunal as from 1 January 2009;

Also decides that judges of the United Nations Dispute Tribunal and the United Nations Appeals Tribunal shall be appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Internal Justice Council;

Further decides to endorse the qualifications of the judges as set out in paragraphs 58 and 67 of the report of the Secretary-GeneralError: Reference source not found and as further described in its decision 62/519;

Decides that the United Nations Dispute Tribunal shall, initially, be composed of three full-time judges, to be located in New York, Geneva and Nairobi, and two half-time judges;

Also decides that further consideration should be given to cases before the United Nations Dispute Tribunal being decided by a panel of judges, depending on the nature of the cases, the workload of judges and the grounds for appeal, and requests the Secretary-General to present further proposals in this regard, including resource implications, to the General Assembly at the second part of its resumed sixty-second session;

Further decides that the United Nations Appeals Tribunal shall be composed of seven members who will sit in panels of at least three;

Decides that judges shall serve only one non-renewable term of seven years on either the United Nations Dispute Tribunal or the United Nations Appeals Tribunal, with the exception of two of the initial judges of the United Nations Dispute Tribunal and three of the initial judges of the United Nations Appeals Tribunal, to be determined by drawing of lots, who shall serve three years and may consequently apply to the same Tribunal for a non-renewable term of seven years;

C.Registries

Decides to establish a Registry for the United Nations Dispute Tribunal in New York, Geneva and Nairobi and a Registry for the United Nations Appeals Tribunal in New York;

Also decides that the Registries will consist of one D-1 Registrar who will oversee the Registries and, for the United Nations Dispute Tribunal in New York, one P-5 Registrar, one P-2 Legal Officer and two General Service (Other level) Administrative Assistants; for the United Nations Dispute Tribunal in Geneva, one P-5 Registrar, one P-3 Legal Research Officer and two General Service (Other level) Administrative Assistants; for the United Nations Dispute Tribunal in Nairobi, one P-5 Registrar, one P-3 Legal Research Officer and two General Service (Local level) Administrative Assistants; and for the United Nations Appeals Tribunal in New York, one P-5 Registrar, one P-3 Legal Officer and two General Service (Other level) Administrative Assistants; and further decides to approve, as general temporary assistance in New York, the equivalent of one P-4 Information Technology Officer, one General Service (Other level) Information Technology Assistant and Legal Research Officer positions equivalent to P-4 in both Geneva and Nairobi;

Requests the Secretary-General to provide to the General Assembly at its sixty-third session terms of reference for the Registries, taking into account the current working methods of the United Nations Administrative Tribunal;

D.Disciplinary proceedings

Decides to endorse, in principle, the delegation of authority for disciplinary measures to heads of offices away from Headquarters and heads of missions/Special Representatives of the Secretary-General, and requests the Secretary-General to present a report containing a detailed proposal regarding possible options for delegation of authority for disciplinary measures, including full delegation, as well as an assessment of possible implications for due process rights of staff members;

E.Management evaluation

Emphasizes the need to have in place a process for management evaluation that is efficient, effective and impartial;

Reaffirms the importance of the general principle of exhausting administrative remedies before formal proceedings are instituted;

Decides to establish an independent Management Evaluation Unit in the Office of the Under-Secretary-General for Management, with one Chief of Unit (P-5), two Legal Officers (P-4) and three Administrative Assistants (General Service (Other level)) and general temporary assistance equivalent to one P-4 Legal Officer position;

Takes note of paragraph 35 of the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions;7

Emphasizes the importance of prompt decisions and responses to formal requests for management evaluation, and decides that such evaluation should be completed in a timely manner, as soon as possible and within a limit of thirty calendar days for Headquarters and forty-five calendar days for offices away from Headquarters after the submission of such a request;

Stresses the importance of establishing adequate accountability measures for managers to ensure their timely response to management evaluation requests;

Emphasizes the importance for the United Nations to have an efficient and effective system of administration of justice so as to ensure that individuals and the Organization are held accountable for their actions in accordance with relevant resolutions and regulations;

IV.Transitional measures

Recalls paragraph 31 of its resolution 61/261, and urges the Secretary-General to intensify the efforts needed to clear the existing backlog of cases before the Panel on Discrimination and Other Grievances, Joint Appeals Boards, Joint Disciplinary Committees, Disciplinary Boards, the Administrative Law Unit, the Executive Office of the Secretary-General and the United Nations Administrative Tribunal;

Endorses paragraphs 73, 74, 76 and 80 of the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions;7

Decides to revert to the issue of transitional arrangements at the second part of its resumed sixty-second session;

Requests the Secretary-General to consult with the organizations which currently participate in the United Nations Administrative Tribunal with the aim of providing for an orderly transition to another system of their choosing, if they were not to join the new system of administration of justice;

V.Financial implications and cost-sharing arrangements

Underlines that the funding for administration of justice, based on cost-sharing arrangements, should be clear, predictable and secure;

Decides to approve the cost-sharing arrangement as outlined by the Secretary-General in paragraphs 161 and 162 of his report;Error: Reference source not found

Urges the Secretary-General to conclude cost-sharing arrangements with the relevant funds and programmes by July 2008;

Requests the Secretary-General to review the arrangements for the provision of services of the United Nations Administrative Tribunal to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the International Seabed Authority, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the International Court of Justice, the International Maritime Organization, the International Civil Aviation Organization and the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund;

VI.Further information

Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at the second part of its resumed sixty-second session on the following:

Draft statute for the United Nations Dispute Tribunal;

Draft statute for the United Nations Appeals Tribunal that reflects the decisions contained in the present resolution and resolution 61/261;

Jurisdiction of the United Nations Dispute Tribunal and the United Nations Appeals Tribunal;

Grounds of appeal before the United Nations Appeals Tribunal;

Conditions under which the United Nations Dispute Tribunal may refer cases pending before it to mediation, including the requirement of the consent of the parties and the issue of time frames;

A detailed proposal regarding the allocation of cases to the United Nations Dispute Tribunal, taking into account geographical accessibility, the type of cases and the number of cases;

Compensation awarded by the tribunals and alternatives;

The role of staff associations vis-à-vis the formal system of justice;

Also requests the Secretary-General to provide further information and recommendations, as appropriate, to the General Assembly at the second part of its resumed sixty-second session, on the following:

The different categories of non-staff personnel performing personal services for the Organization, including experts on mission, United Nations officials other than staff members of the Secretariat and daily workers;

The types of dispute settlement mechanisms available to the different categories of non-staff personnel and their effectiveness;

The types of grievances the different categories of non-staff personnel have raised in the past and what bodies of law are relevant to such claims;

Any other mechanism that could be envisaged to provide effective and efficient dispute settlement to the different categories of non-staff personnel, taking into account the nature of their contractual relationship with the Organization;

Further requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at the main part of its sixty-third session on the following:

The revised terms of reference for the Ombudsman, taking into account the changes in functions, presence and proposed locations;

The results of the negotiations between the United Nations and other participating entities on cost-sharing arrangements for the system of administration of justice;

Mechanisms for the formal removal of judges, definition of the “grounds of misconduct or incapacity” and the means for the establishment of such grounds in a specific case;

Viable options for programme support cost/trust funds to share the cost of the new internal justice system;

VII.Other issues

Invites the Sixth Committee to consider the legal aspects of the reports 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;

Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that information concerning the details of the new system of administration of justice, in particular options for recourse, is readily accessible by all staff covered under the new system;

Also requests the Secretary-General to develop a comprehensive approach to address privacy rights of staff, including their right to confidentiality, and the responsibility of the Organization for ensuring the due process rights of its staff under investigation;

Further requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its sixty-third session on how information and communications technology can improve the functioning of the system of administration of justice.

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