Chapter VI. Selected legal opinions of the secretariats of the United Nations and related intergovernmental organizations

Extract from:

UNITED NATIONS JURIDICAL YEARBOOK

2008

Part Two. Legal activities of the United Nations and related intergovernmental organizations

. Selected legal opinions of the Secretariats of the United Nations and related intergovernmental organizations

Copyright (c) United Nations

UNITED NATIONS JURIDICAL YEARBOOK 2008

4 Decision No. 384 (18 July 2008) A. A. v International Bank for

Reconstruction and Development

External service of staff to resolve potential conflict of interest—Interpretation of agreement between the Bank and the Applicant—Contra proferentem rule not to be applied to the present case—Applicant’s secondment to other institutions was clearly and essentially contingent upon the tenure of the Bank’s President—Duty of the

Bank to establish appropriate safeguards to ensure that confidential personnel information pertaining to a staff member remained confidential 396 D Decisions of the Administrative Tribunal of the International

Monetary Fund

Judgment No. 2008–1 (January 7, 2008): Mr. M. D’A. (No. 3), Applicant v

International Monetary Fund, Respondent

Candidacy for election to the governing board of the Staff Association—

Transfer to a different post in same department at the same salary

and grade level in case of election—Conflict of interest—Right to association—Alleged intimidation and harassment—Right of the

staff to be represented by elected representatives rather than right

of each staff member to represent the staff—Recognized discretionary authority to determine on a case-by-case basis the risk of conflict of interest—Abuse of discretionary authority—Requirement to weigh carefully any potential incompatibility between job functions 398

Chapter VI Selected legal opinions of the secretariats of the

United Nations and related intergovernmental organizations

A Legal opinions of the Secretariat of the United Nations

1 Privileges and immunities

(a) Note verbale to the Permanent Representative of a Member State

to the United Nations on the question of taxation of salaries and emoluments paid to locally recruited officials of the United Nations system 401

(b) Note to the Department of Peacekeeping Operations regarding criminal proceedings in relation to violent protest by former individual contractors of a United Nations Mission 404

(c) Note verbale to the Permanent Representative of a Member State

to the United Nations regarding a civil suit instituted in the Conciliation and Arbitration Board 406

(d) Interoffice memorandum to the Secretary to the Commission

and Officer-in-Charge of the General Services Section, Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), regarding new Directive on Value

Added Tax in Member State 408

xvi

Page

contents

(e) Interoffice memorandum to the Chief of the Field Procurement

Service regarding Member State export controls on orders of communication technology products for use by United Nations Mission in the Sudan 410 (f) Interoffice memorandum to the Director of the Accounts Division,

Office of Programme Planning, Budget and Accounts (OPPBA), regarding the obligation to pay gross receipt tax charged by energy supplier companies 412 (g) Interoffice memorandum to the Director of the Programme Planning and Budget Division, Office of Programme Planning, Budget

and Accounts (OPPBA), regarding the Lease Agreement between

the United Nations and a Member State 415 2 Procedural and institutional issues 417

(a) Memorandum to the Executive Secretary, Secretariat of the Basel

Convention, regarding the criteria for accreditation of representatives of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to meetings of

the Basel Convention 417 (b) Interoffice memorandum to the Director of the Investment Management Service of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF) regarding procurement of a securities lending programme 420 (c) Note to the Executive Office of the Secretary-General (EOSG) on

policy considerations related to the filing of amicus curiae briefs 422 (d) Interoffice memorandum to the Senior Legal Officer, United Nations Office in Vienna (UNOV), regarding the relationship between the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

and the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) 424 (e) Note to the Assistant Secretary-General, Executive Director of the

United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), regarding the autonomy of UNITAR 427 (f) Note to the Chef de Cabinet, Executive Office of the Secretary-General, on the establishment of a commission of inquiry into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto 434 (g) Interoffice memorandum to the Director of the Legal Support Office, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), regarding whether the UNDP Audit Advisory Committee can report to

the UNDP Executive Board 437 (h) Note to Department of Political Affairs regarding the status of the

International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) 438 (i) Interoffice memorandum to the Chief Executive Officer, United

Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF), regarding the legal

status of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in view of its application

for membership to UNJSPF 440

xvii

Page

UNITED NATIONS JURIDICAL YEARBOOK 2008

(j) Interoffice memorandum to the Director of the Office for Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Support and Coordination, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), regarding amending financial regulations and rules of United Nations funds

and programmes 441

(k) Interoffice memorandum to the Assistant Secretary-General, Controller, regarding delegated authority for the Registrar of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to sign contracts on behalf of the Tribunal 445

3 Other issues relating to United Nations peacekeeping operations

Note to the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations regarding the difference between the relocation and the repatriation

of the personnel of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and

Eritrea (UNMEE) 447

4 Personnel questions

(a) Interoffice memorandum to the Legal Support Office, Bureau of

Management, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), regarding proposed changes to the Constitution of the UNDP/ UNFPA/UNOPS Staff Association 449 (b) Interoffice memorandum regarding rights of staff representatives 450 5 Procurement

(a) Interoffice memorandum to the Headquarters Committee on

Contracts (HCC) regarding the implementation of its recommendation in connection with financial rule 105 15(c) 453 (b) Interoffice memorandum to the Assistant Secretary-General, Controller, regarding the proposal to suspend vendors identified in the

fifth and final report of the Independent Inquiry Committee into

the United Nations Oil for Food Programme 456 (c) Interoffice memorandum to the Headquarters Committee on

Contracts (HCC) regarding advice on financial rule 105 15(c) 457 B Legal opinions of the Secretariats of intergovernmental organizations related to the United Nations

1 International Labour Organization

Opinion concerning the participation by the representative of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo at the International Labour Conference 459

2 United Nations Industrial Development Organization

(a) Interoffice memorandum regarding United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Headquarters Agreement – Import privileges of staff members holding a [State] residency permit 460

(b) Interoffice memorandum regarding limitations on earnings of

UNIDO retirees re-employed by the Organization 461

xviii

Page

contents

(c) Interoffice memorandum regarding Government clearance of

UNIDO experts sent on mission to a Member State 464 (d) Interoffice memorandum regarding residency status 465

Part Three. Judicial decisions on questions relating to the United Nations and related intergovernmental organizations

Chapter VII Decisions and advisory opinions of international tribunals

A International Court of Justice

1 Judgments 469 2 Advisory Opinions 469 3 Pending cases as at 31 December 2008 469 B International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea

1 Judgments 470 2 Pending cases as at 31 December 2008 471 C International Criminal Court

(a) Situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ICC-01/04 471 (b) Situation in Uganda ICC-02/04 472 (c) Situation in the Central African Republic ICC-01/05 472 (d) Situation in Darfur, the Sudan 472 D International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia

1 Judgments delivered by the Appeals Chamber 472 2 Judgments delivered by the Trial Chambers 473 E International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

1 Judgments delivered by the Appeals Chambers 473 2 Judgments delivered by the Trial Chambers 474 F Special Court for Sierra Leone

1 Judgments delivered by the Appeals Chamber 474 2 Judgments delivered by the Trial Chambers 474 3 Selected decisions of the Appeals Chamber 474 4 Selected decisions of the Trial Chambers 475 G Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia 475

H Special Tribunal for Lebanon 475

xix

Page

Chapter VI

sELECTED LEgAL OPiNiONs* 1 OF ThE sECRETARiATs OF ThE UNiTED NATiONs AND RELATED iNTERgOvERNmENTAL ORgANizATiONs

1. Legal opinions of the secretariat of the United Nations

   (Issued or prepared by the Office of Legal Affairs)

   1. Privileges and immunities

      (a) Note verbale to the Permanent Representative of a Member State to the United Nations on the question of taxation of salaries and emoluments paid to locally recruited officials of the United Nations system

      Privileges and immunities granted to United Nations officials—Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, 19462—General Assembly resolution 78 (1) of 7 December 1946—United Nations officials exempted from taxation on their salaries regardless of their nationality—Equality of treatment for all officials of the Organization to whom such immunity is granted—Only staff recruited locally and assigned to hourly rates may be subject to taxation—Direct assessment imposed on salaries of United Nations officials viewed as comparable to national...