IMF Administrative Tribunal - IMFAT 30th Anniversary Program
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Conference overview
- Event: 30th Anniversary Conference of the Administrative Tribunal of the International Monetary Fund (IMFAT)
- Date and location: November 19, 2025, Washington, DC
- Attendance: More than 200 distinguished guests from the international law world, including judges, registrars, practitioners and academics
- Theme: International Administrative Law in Changing and Challenging Times
- Program components: opening remarks, three panel discussions, Closing Remarks, and a social hour
Opening remarks and framing
- Judge Nassib G. Ziadé, President of the IMF Administrative Tribunal:
- Placed the Tribunal’s 30th anniversary within a tradition of tribunal anniversary gatherings promoting exchange, cooperation, and cross-fertilization among IAL actors
- Welcomed participation and support of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) and the Société française pour le droit international (SFDI)
- Emphasized broad harmonization of principles in IAL jurisprudence while respecting each institution’s statutory framework and operational context
- Observed that proliferation of administrative tribunals has not produced the feared jurisprudential fragmentation due to shared principles, experienced judges, and comparative referencing
- Recalled IMFAT institutional history, acknowledged contributions of past and present judges, registrars, General Counsels, and the Staff Association, and highlighted recent improvements in transparency and accessibility
- Reaffirmed IMFAT’s role in strengthening the Fund’s mission, protecting individual rights, ensuring due process, and contributing to development of international administrative justice
- Mélida Hodgson, President of ASIL:
- Framed ASIL’s participation in advancing international law through scholarship, dialogue, and convening
- Noted IMFAT as exemplifying judicial accountability by ensuring fairness, good faith, and due process in staff matters
- Highlighted that IATs often receive scant attention in legal education and scholarship despite their importance to the international rule of law
- Emphasized IMFAT’s independence, jurisprudence, and procedural safeguards as contributing to accountability, fairness, and legitimacy of international institutions
- Nicola Bonucci, Vice-President of SFDI:
- Congratulated IMFAT on its 30th anniversary and emphasized collaboration among international law institutions
- Highlighted balance between organizational immunity and individual access to justice as a central contemporary challenge, citing litigation involving the European Space Agency before French courts
- Identified tribunals’ role in protecting integrity of international organizations and in making justice effective, transparent, and fair
- Dr. Olufemi Elias:
- Classified international administrative law as a specialized branch of public international law grounded in treaty foundations and ICJ advisory opinions
- Illustrated operational ties between public international law and IAL via tribunal case law involving general principles, treaties, customary international law, human rights instruments, and treaty interpretation
- Concluded doctrinal debates have not impeded adjudication and highlighted IMFAT’s contribution to development of international administrative law
Session 1 — Sources of international administrative law
- Moderator: Professor John R. Crook, International Arbitrator and former Judge at NATOAT
- Topics covered:
- Law applied by international administrative tribunals (IATs)
- Administrative practice as a source of international administrative law (IAL)
- Precedent and IATs
- International Law Commission’s work on the settlement of disputes to which international organizations are parties
- Speakers and roles:
- Judge Maria Vicien Milburn (EBRDAT, IDBAT, IMFAT)
- Me Rémi Cèbe (Sicault & Cèbe; Université Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas)
- Brian Patterson, Deputy General Counsel, Legal Department, IMF
- Judge Raul Pangalangan (ADB Administrative Tribunal; WBAT; former ICC Judge)
- Mercedes Carrillo, Secretary, OASAT
- Paul Jean Le Cannu, Registrar, IMFAT
- Professor August Reinisch, Special Rapporteur, ILC on settlement of disputes to which international organizations are parties
- Rapporteur: Anna Holloway, Senior Legal Counsel, ICSID
- Key discussion points:
- Administrative practice and precedent as influential sources in IAL
- Interplay between tribunal jurisprudence and ILC work on dispute settlement involving international organizations
Session 2 — Recent developments in international administrative law
- Moderator: Judge Deborah Thomas-Felix, IMFAT
- Topics covered:
- Developments and possible reforms concerning the jurisdiction of IATs
- Reliance on human rights law in IAL litigation
- Whether IATs should have jurisdiction over direct challenges to regulatory decisions as well as individual decisions
- How international organizations address non-employment matters without extending IAT jurisdiction
- Emerging trends and human rights before IATs
- Speakers and roles:
- Judge Joan Powers (EBRDAT; Appeals Tribunal of Gavi; Chair, Appeal Board of WIPO)
- Judge Thomas Laker (WBAT; NATOAT; ATCE; EBRDAT)
- Juliet E. Johnson, Registrar, UNAT
- Judge Celia Goldman (ESMAT; former IMFAT Registrar)
- Judge Pablo Sandonato de León, President, OASAT
- Jodi T. Glasow, Executive Secretary, World Bank Sanctions Board
- Judge Kieran Bradley (IMFAT, IDBAT, ESMAT)
- Judge Paul Lemmens, Chair, ATCE
- Rapporteur: Véronique Truchon-Lachapelle, Legal Officer, UNAT
- Key discussion points:
- Consideration of expanding IAT jurisdiction to regulatory decisions and wider subject-matters
- Use of human rights instruments and emerging trends in IAL practice
- Institutional mechanisms for resolving non-employment matters without jurisdictional expansion
Session 3 — Immunities, independence, and selection of IAT members
- Moderator: Judge Andrew K.C. Nyirenda, IMFAT
- Topics covered:
- Immunities of international organizations
- Independence of international administrative tribunals
- Selection and appointment of tribunal members, tenure, and operational guarantees of independence
- National court intervention and implications for internal justice within international organizations
- Speakers and roles:
- Keynote: Judge Nassib G. Ziadé (IMFAT) — keynote on national court intervention, immunities, judge appointment and tenure, independence of registrars and secretariats
- Professor Peter Bekker, Partner at Thompson Hine LLP, Chair of International Law at University of Dundee — focused on legal foundations of immunity and tribunal independence, drawing on second edition of his book published by Brill Nijhoff in 2025
- Yan Liu, General Counsel and Director, Legal Department, IMF — emphasized importance of IMF’s immunities for institutional independence and IMFAT’s role in upholding rule of law within the Fund
- Kathryn Nelson-Indre, Chair of the Staff Association Committee, IMF — framed remarks from staff perspective focusing on immunity, independence, trust, and institutional accountability
- Rapporteur: Salim S. Sleiman, International Law Fellow, ASIL
- Key discussion points:
- Tension between organizational immunity and individual access to justice
- Operational and structural guarantees necessary to secure tribunal independence, including registrar and secretariat independence
- Impact of national court actions on internal justice mechanisms
Closing remarks and forward-looking themes
- Speaker: Professor Edith Brown Weiss, Georgetown University Law School, former IMFAT Judge and former President of IDBAT
- Closing themes:
- Accountability as core to legitimacy and effectiveness of international administrative tribunals
- Consolidation of tribunals and development of international administrative law as a distinct body of law
- Judicial specialization in IAL and declining multilateralism as shaping forces
- Impact of artificial intelligence on the future of tribunals
- Role of administrative tribunals as the voice of international civil servants and their adaptation to political, technological, and societal change
Outcomes, reports, and acknowledgements
- Session rapporteurs and speakers prepared reports on Sessions 1, 2, and 3
- Judge Nassib G. Ziadé thanked all speakers, participants, and organizers and closed the event with an invitation to a reception
- The Registry of the IMF Administrative Tribunal (Maureen Ng’ang’a and Paul Jean Le Cannu) expressed thanks to speakers, attendees, Fund colleagues, and World Bank and ICSID colleagues for contributing to the conference’s success
Content in this bundle
- Report on the IMF Administrative Tribunal 30th Anniversary Conference — Closing Remarks
- Report on the IMF Administrative Tribunal 30th Anniversary Conference — Opening Speeches
- Ms. Holloway’s report on Session 1 can be found here
- Ms. Truchon-Lachapelle’s report on Session 2 can be found here
- Session 3 — Conference report
- INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL — Code of Judicial Conduct
- conclusion sustained that factors other than discrimination affected Applicant’s career
- Revised Decision on the protection of privacy and method of publication
References