UNDT/2019/186, Krioutchkov
A roster is a temporary pool of candidates who were not selected for an advertised position but recommended for it immediately after a competitive recruitment exercise. They are therefore considered pre-approved candidates available for further selections. The provision of rosters is an exception to the general principle that only successful candidates of a competitive recruitment process can be recruited for advertised positions. The institution of rosters is in general allowed in the interest of the Organization, which can so cover staffing needs without a new competitive process being undertaken. This explains why, generally, the roster has a validity limited in time, as after a certain period set by the rules the need for a fresh selection with new candidates may arise. From the point of view of the candidates, the roster system can only indirectly satisfy the interest of the suitable candidates to be recruited within a certain period without being submitted to new selection exercises. In any case, once the candidate is recruited, the roster membership generally ends its function, and only specific rules may provide for its enduring validity to allow easily lateral movement of personnel. This is not the case of the language competitive examination rosters, where no rule provides for the ultra-activity of the roster, namely activity after selection of a rostered candidate upon which the function of a roster is realized. Therefore, once candidates are selected from a language competitive examination roster, they do not maintain their roster status and they are granted a permanent appointment upon satisfactory completion of the probationary period set in the rules. It is worth also noting that during the probationary period, selected rostered candidates may also be reassigned to language posts at other duty stations according to the needs of the Organization. Finally, according to the collected evidence, and in particular the statement on 29 October 2019 by the above-mentioned UN Human Resources Officer, it is fully confirmed that the Administration has always been following a practice of removing successful candidates from the language roster of eligible candidates once assigned to a post, in compliance with the above-mentioned rules. In view of the foregoing, the Tribunal finds that the Applicant being screened-out from the selection process under JO 39481 was lawful. Related
The Applicant contested the decision not to evaluate his candidature for, as well as his non-selection to, the position of Russian Translator (P-3), at the United Nations Office at Nairobi (“UNON”).
The language competitive examinations are explicitly excluded from the application of ST/AI/2010/3 (which allows to maintain a pool of roster candidates for selection for a certain time also after appointment) and are instead governed by sec. 2.2 of ST/AI/2000/1, which provides that during the initial 5-year service period that language post successful candidates are expected to serve, it is possible to reassign them to “language posts at other duty stations according to the needs of the Organization”.