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

UNITED NATIONS

JURIDICAL YEARBOOK

Extract from:

Chapter VI. Selected legal opinions of the Secretariats of the United Nations and related

intergovernmental organizations

1987

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

organizations

Copyright (c) United Nations

Page

Applicants dispute salary

increases

in the

salary structures

—

Question

of the

jurisdiction

of the

Tribunal

—

Tribunal would

not

fulfil

its

judicial mission

if it

were,

for

procedural

and

purely

formalistic

reasons,

to

limit itself

to the

review

of

only

one

aspect

of the

case

—

Principle

of

parallelism between

the

World Bank

and the

International Monetary Fund

in

salaries

and

staff

benefits

—

Principles governing

staff

compensation

laid

down

in the

Kafka

system

and in the

ruling

of the

Tribunal

in the de

Merode

case

—

Principles

in

question

included

in

various

aspects

a

margin

of

flexibility

—

Discretionary power

of the

President

of the

Bank

is

subject

to

limits

on

which

the

Tribunal

has to

exercise

its right to

review

—

"Political

pressure"

of

member States

and the

President's

responsibilities under

the

Articles

of the

Agreement

159

2.

Decision

No. 40 (27

October

1987):

The

World Bank Staff

Association

v.

International Bank

for

Reconstruction

and

Development, International Finance Corporation, International

Development Association

162

The

Staff

Association

challenges various

aspects

of the

Bank's

plan

for

reorganization

of the

staff

—

Question whether

the

Tribunal

has

power

to

hear

and

pass judgement upon

the

application filed

by the

Staff Association

—

Staff

Association standing

vis-a-vis

the

Tribunal

— The

Staff

Association

may

serve, under rule

23 (2) of the

Tribunal's

statute,

in

particular

cases

as

amicus

curiae

162

3.

Decision

No. 41 (27

October

1987):

Godwin

Agodo

v.

International Bank

for

Reconstruction

and

Development,

International

Finance Corporation, International Development

Association

163

Applicant

challenges various

aspects

of the

Respondent's rules

providing

for the

reorganization

of the

staff

—

Applicant's

standing

to file an

application

in a

representative capacity

— No

similarity

to the de

Merode

case

— The

Tribunal

is

not

empowered

by its

statute

or the

Staff

Rules

to

issue

advisory

opinions

—

Question

of

issuing

a

decision

in the

form

of a

declaratory judgement

163

CHAPTER

VI.

SELECTED

LEGAL OPINIONS

OF THE

SECRETARIES

OF THE

UNITED

NATIONS

AND

RELATED INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZA-

TIONS

A.

LEGAL OPINIONS

OF THE

SECRETARIAT

OF THE

UNITED

NATIONS

(ISSUED

OR

PREPARED

BY THE

OFFICE

OF

LEGAL

AFFAIRS)

1.

Request

by a

Member State that

its

national

flag

be

flown half-

mast

at

United Nations

Headquarters

for

reasons

of

national

mourning

—

United Nations

Flag

Code

and

Regulations

169

XI

Page

2.

Corporate sponsorship

of a

global public information

and

fund-

raising event

in

connection

with

the

United Nations Decade

of

Disabled

Persons

—

Proposed

donation

by a firm in

exchange

for

the use of

representations

of

United Nations Headquarters

in

an

advertising campaign

—

Question

of the use of the

United

Nations emblem

on the

products

of

sponsoring companies

—

General Assembly resolution

92 (I) —

Long-established

United

Nations

policy

to

prohibit

firms

contracting

with

the

Organi-

zation

from

referring

to

their services

to the

United Nations

for

commercial

or

other advertising purposes

17O

3.

Question whether

it

would

be in

accordance

with

United Nations

procedure

for the

United Nations Environment Programme

to

accede

in its own

name

to the

1986 Convention

on

Early

Notification

of a

Nuclear Accident

and to the

1986 Convention

on

Assistance

in the

Case

of a

Nuclear Accident

or

Radiological

Emergency

171

4.

Legal requirements regarding

the

accession

by the

United

Nations

to the

1986 Convention

on

Early Notification

of a

Nuclear

Accident

and the

1986

Convention

on

Assistance

in the

Case

of a

Nuclear Accident

or

Radiological Emergency

—

Requirement

of the

submission

of

"declarations

of

competence"

by

international organizations acceding

to the

Conventions

173

5.

Meaning

of

consensus

in the

practice

of the

United Nations

174

6.

Legal status

of the

decisions

and

recommendations

of the

Economic

and

Social Council when

the

General Assembly takes

decisions

on

subjects

on

which

the

Council

had

already taken

a

decision (endorsement)

—

Dual capacity

of the

Committee

for

Programme

and

Coordination

as a

subsidiary organ

of

both

the

Economic

and

Social Council

and the

General Assembly

175

7.

Policy

of the

Organization

with

regard to rights in

inventions that

result

from

projects

funded

by the

United Nations Development

Programme

—

Article III, paragraph

8, of the

United Nations

Development Programme Standard Basic Assistance Agreement

and

article

VIQ

of the

Basic Agreement

with

executing agencies

—

Question whether such policy restricts

the

patenting

of the

subject

inventions

by

Governments

177

8.

Designation

of

executing

agencies

for

projects

of the

United

Nations Development Programme

—

Historical background

of

the

issue

180

9.

Policies

governing

the

attribution

of

authorship

in

United

Nations publications, documents

and

other

official

papers

186

xn