The United Nations is seeking judges for its internal system of administration of justice that addresses employment-related disputes.
The internal justice system includes a first instance United Nations Dispute Tribunal (UNDT) and an appellate instance United Nations Appeals Tribunal (UNAT).
UNDT is permanently in session, and has seats in New York, Geneva and Nairobi. UNDT is comprised of nine judges (three full-time judges and six half-time judges) who serve for a seven-year term. Half-time judges work for up to six months in a calendar year in New York, Geneva or Nairobi, and/or from their home country. Half-time judges may not be deployed in a particular year or may be deployed less than a cumulative period of six months a year, if their deployment is not justified by UNDT’s caseload. The President of UNDT decides whether and where to deploy a half-time judge, including whether to make use of telecommuting in their deployment.
UNAT is not permanently in session but holds sessions as required by its caseload (currently, three sessions each year, each of two weeks duration). UNAT exercises its functions in New York but it may decide to hold sessions in Geneva or Nairobi, as required by its caseload. UNAT is comprised of seven judges, who also serve for a seven-year term.
The terms of seven judges will expire on 30 June 2023. There is an additional vacancy on UNAT due to the resignation of incumbent judge.
The United Nations is undertaking the present selection process to fill these vacancies, and is inviting applications for:
− One full-time judge for UNDT in Geneva (for a non-renewable seven-year term starting on 1 July 2023);
− One full-time judge for UNDT in Nairobi (for a non-renewable seven-year term starting on 1 July 2023);
− One half-time judge for UNDT (for a non-renewable seven-year term starting on 1 July 2023);
− Four judges for UNAT (for a non-renewable seven-year term starting on 1 July 2023); and
− One judge for UNAT (for a non-renewable term of office starting immediately upon appointment and ending on 30 June 2026).
Mandatory qualifications for judges of UNDT:
All persons applying to serve as a judge of UNDT must be of high moral character and impartial.
Candidates must have at least 10 years of judicial experience (i.e. experience as a judge or equivalent) in the field of administrative law, or the equivalent (e.g., employment law, labour law) within one or more national jurisdictions.
English and French are the working languages of the United Nations. All candidates must be fluent, both orally and in writing, in English or French in order to conduct judicial proceedings and draft decisions in either of the two languages.
A current or former judge of UNAT is ineligible to serve in UNDT.
Mandatory qualifications for judges of UNAT:
All persons applying to serve as a judge of UNAT must be of high moral character and impartial.
Candidates must have at least 15 years of aggregate judicial experience (i.e. experience as a judge or equivalent) in the field of administrative law, employment law, or the equivalent within one or more national or international jurisdictions. Relevant academic experience, when combined with practical experience in arbitration or the equivalent, may be taken into account towards five of the qualifying 15 years.
English and French are the working languages of the United Nations. All candidates must be fluent, both orally and in writing, in English or French in order to conduct judicial proceedings and draft decisions in either of the two languages.
A current or former judge of UNDT is ineligible to serve in UNAT.
Applications:
Interested candidates are invited to apply by completing the prescribed application form in either English or French, available at https://un.org/en/internaljustice/overview/judicial-vacancies.shtml (in English) and https://www.un.org/fr/internaljustice/overview/judicial-vacancies.shtml (in French), and sending the completed form by email to internaljusticecouncil-application@un.org to be received by 11:59 p.m. (U.S. Eastern time) on 14 March 2022.
Candidates who do not meet the mandatory qualifications set out above or who do not apply using the prescribed form will not be considered. The form must be completed electronically (handwritten forms will not be accepted).
Eligible persons may apply to both UNDT and UNAT through one application form.
Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided in the application, required to prepare a draft opinion based on a hypothetical fact pattern, and will be interviewed by the Council.
Applications from women are strongly encouraged.
Applications are sought on a wide geographic basis and candidates from the Asia-Pacific states are strongly encouraged to apply.
The list of United Nations Member States comprising the regional groups is available at https://www.un.org/dgacm/en/content/regional-groups (in English) and https://www.un.org/dgacm/fr/content/regional-groups (in French).
Remuneration package and additional information:
As per United Nations General Assembly resolution 63/253, UNDT judges are remunerated at a level equivalent to D-2 step IV on the United Nations salary scale for the Professional and higher categories. For indicative purposes, the annual net salary levels at D-2 step IV, including post adjustment, in effect as from 1 January 2021 are as follows: US $203,842.28 (New York), US $210,946.06 (Geneva) and US $172,657.90 (Nairobi) for full-time judges. Salaries of half-time judges depend on the level prescribed for their place of established residence; for example: US $177,233.22 (if residing in Bangkok), US $166,443.80 (if residing in Santiago). Other benefits and entitlements of UNDT judges include, subject to eligibility: annual leave, dependency allowances, medical and dental insurance, rental subsidy, education grant for children, home leave, paid sick leave; maternity / paternity / adoption leave. The half-time judges are remunerated for each month of their deployment (if any) in a calendar year. Transportation costs and daily subsistence allowance may be covered if their deployment requires travel.
As per United Nations General Assembly resolutions 63/253 and 72/256, UNAT judges receive an honorarium of US $2,400 for each judgement for the principal author, and US $600 for each judge signatory; and US $600 for the adjudication of interlocutory motions by a single UNAT judge. The United Nations also covers travel expenses and daily subsistence allowance for the duration of UNAT sessions.
The qualifications and terms of judicial office of the judges and the articles governing the operation of the Tribunals are set out in the Statutes of UNDT and UNAT. The stands of judicial conduct are prescribed in the Code of Conduct for the Judges of UNDT and UNAT and related Mechanism for Addressing Complaints Regarding Alleged Misconduct or Incapacity of the Judges. These documents are available at www.un.org/en/internaljustice (in English) and www.un.org/fr/internaljustice (in French). The candidates are encouraged to familiarize themselves with these documents and with the jurisprudence of the Tribunals which is also available on the website.
The judges are expected to make themselves fully available to perform judicial functions for UNDT and UNAT, as applicable. The respective Presidents of the Tribunals are monitoring the timely delivery of judgements, while the UNDT caseload is monitored through a publicly available dashboard.
A judge of UNDT or UNAT shall not be eligible for any other appointment within the United Nations, except another judicial post, for a period of five years following his or her term of office.
The judges shall be appointed by the General Assembly from a list of two or three candidates recommended for each vacancy by the Internal Justice Council, an independent body established by the General Assembly.
Due to the sheer volume of expected applications, the Council will not be in a position to respond to any enquiries regarding the selection process, and will further contact only those applicants who will have moved forward in the selection process.
How to apply:
Applications:
Interested candidates are invited to apply by completing the prescribed application form in either English or French, available at https://un.org/en/internaljustice/overview/judicial-vacancies.shtml (in English) and https://www.un.org/fr/internaljustice/overview/judicial-vacancies.shtml (in French), and sending the completed form by email to internaljusticecouncil-application@un.org to be received by 11:59 p.m. (U.S. Eastern time) on 14 March 2022.