IMF Administrative Tribunal — Commentary on the Statute
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Establishment, scope, and legal foundation
- The Administrative Tribunal of the International Monetary Fund ("the Tribunal") is established by Article I to serve the Fund exclusively, with Article XXI allowing affiliation by other international organizations.
- The Tribunal's powers are limited to those conferred under the Statute (Article III, first sentence), and it must apply the internal law of the Fund, including generally recognized principles of international administrative law concerning judicial review of administrative acts (Article III, second sentence).
- Nothing in the Statute limits or modifies the powers of the Fund's organs under the Articles of Agreement, including their discretionary authority in employment matters (Article III, third sentence).
- Interpretations of the Fund's Articles of Agreement by the Executive Board are binding on the Tribunal, subject to review by the Board of Governors in accordance with Article XXIX of the Articles of Agreement (Article III, fourth sentence).
Competence, definitions, and admissibility
- Competence: The Tribunal is competent to pass judgment on applications:
- by a member of the staff challenging the legality of an administrative act adversely affecting him (Article II.1.a);
- by an enrollee in, or beneficiary under, any retirement or other benefit plan maintained by the Fund as employer challenging the legality of an administrative act concerning or arising under any such plan which adversely affects the applicant (Article II.1.b).
- Key definitions (Article II.2):
- "administrative act" = any individual or regulatory decision taken in the administration of the staff of the Fund.
- "regulatory decision" = any rule concerning the terms and conditions of staff employment, including the General Administrative Orders and the Staff Retirement Plan, but excluding any resolutions adopted by the Board of Governors of the Fund.
- "member of the staff" includes: (i) persons with current or former regular or fixed-term letters of appointment stating staff status; (ii) current or former assistants to an Executive Director; and (iii) successors in interest to deceased members, to the extent entitled to assert the staff member's rights (Article II.2.c).
- Time calculation: the day of the event from which a period runs is excluded; if the last day is not a Fund working day, the period includes the next Fund working day (Article II.2.d).
- Masculine pronoun includes the feminine (Article II.2.e).
- Exhaustion of administrative remedies and time limits:
- An application may be filed only after exhaustion of all available channels of administrative review (Article V.1).
- Where formal review procedures exist, administrative review is exhausted if: three months elapse after a recommendation to the Managing Director without a decision granting relief; a decision denying relief is notified; or two months elapse after notification of a decision granting relief but measures have not been taken (Article V.2.a–c).
- Where such formal procedures do not exist, exhaustion occurs when three months have elapsed since the request for review and no decision granting relief has been notified (Article V.3.a).
- The Managing Director and the applicant may agree to submit the dispute directly to the Tribunal, in which case all channels are deemed exhausted (Article V.3—end).
- Limitation periods (Article VI):
- Individual decision: not admissible if filed more than three months after all available channels of administrative review have been exhausted, or, absent such channels, after notification of the decision (Article VI.1).
- Regulatory decision: not admissible if filed more than three months after the announcement or effective date of the decision, whichever is later; illegality of a regulatory decision may be asserted at any time in support of an admissible application challenging an individual decision taken pursuant to that regulatory decision (Article VI.2).
- The Tribunal may waive time limits in exceptional circumstances if delay is justified (Article VI.3).
- Filing an application does not suspend implementation of the contested decision (Article VI.4).
- No application may be filed or maintained after settlement between the applicant and the Fund (Article V.5).
Composition, independence, and Secretariat
- Composition and appointment (Article VII):
- The Tribunal shall be composed of five members, including the President (Article VII.1).
- As of January 1, 2010, the President is appointed for four years by the Managing Director after consultation with the Staff Association and with the approval of the Executive Board; other members are appointed for four years by the Managing Director after appropriate consultation, with two members as a transitional measure appointed for two years beginning on January 1, 2010 (Article VII.1.a–b).
- Members must have no prior or present employment relationship with the Fund, be nationals of a Fund member country at appointment, and possess qualifications for high judicial office or be jurisconsults of recognized competence (Article VII.1.c).
- Reappointment: President and other members may be reappointed for a maximum of two additional terms; service prior to January 1, 2010 is not counted toward this limit (Article VII.2).
- Panels: Case decisions are taken by panels of three members (the President and two others); when the President recuses or is unable to hear a case, the most senior member acts as President for that case (Article VII.4).
- Removal: The Managing Director shall terminate a member if, in the unanimous opinion of the other members, the member is unsuited for further service (Article VII.5).
- Independence and post-service restriction (Article VIII):
- Members shall be completely independent, receive no instructions, and be considered officers of the Fund for purposes of the Articles of Agreement.
- Members shall not be eligible for staff employment with the Fund following the end of their service with the Tribunal (Article VIII).
- Secretariat and expenses (Article IX):
- The Managing Director makes administrative arrangements and designates personnel to serve as a Secretariat; such personnel act under the authority of the President and must not disclose confidential information (Article IX.1–2).
- Expenses of the Tribunal are borne by the Fund (Article IX.3).
Evidence, procedure, hearings, and confidentiality
- Evidence and documents (Article X.1):
- The Tribunal may require production of documents held by the Fund, except the Managing Director may withhold evidence if disclosure might hinder Fund operations due to secret or confidential nature; such determination is binding on the Tribunal.
- If a document is withheld, the applicant's allegations concerning its contents are deemed demonstrated in the absence of probative evidence to the contrary (Article X.1).
- The Tribunal may examine witnesses and experts subject to the same qualification.
- Rules of Procedure and counsel (Article X.2–3):
- The Tribunal, by majority vote, establishes its Rules of Procedure covering presentation of applications, intervention, evidence, summary dismissal, and other operational matters (Article X.2.a–e).
- Each party may be assisted by counsel of choice, other than members of the Fund's Legal Department; parties bear their counsel costs except as provided in Article XIV.4 and Article XV (Article X.3).
- Sessions and oral proceedings (Articles XI–XII):
- The Tribunal shall ordinarily hold sessions at the Fund's headquarters; it may hold sessions at another location or by electronic means considering fairness and efficiency (Article XI).
- The Tribunal decides whether oral proceedings are warranted; oral proceedings shall be open to interested persons unless exceptional circumstances require privacy (Article XII).
- The Tribunal may hold hybrid sessions and set rules to enable electronic hearings (Article XI).
- Decisions, confidentiality, and publication (Article XIII; Article XVIII):
- Decisions by majority vote; judgments are final, subject to Article XVI and Article XVII, and without appeal (Article XIII.1–2).
- Each judgment shall be in writing with stated reasons; deliberations are confidential (Article XIII.3–4).
- Original judgments are filed in the Fund archives; copies attested by the President delivered to parties; copies made available on request to interested persons, with the President able to delete identities or other means of identification (Article XVIII.1–2).
Remedies, compensation, and costs
- Remedies for individual decisions (Article XIV.1–2):
- If an individual decision is found illegal, the Tribunal shall prescribe rescission and all other measures required to correct effects, including payment of money or specific performance (Article XIV.1).
- When prescribing nonmonetary measures, the Tribunal shall fix an amount of compensation to be paid if the Managing Director, within one month of notification of the judgment, decides in the interest of the Fund not to implement such measures.
- The amount of compensation shall not exceed the equivalent of three hundred percent (300%) of the current or last annual salary from the Fund.
- The Tribunal may, in exceptional cases and with specific reasons, order payment of higher compensation (Article XIV.2).
- If the Tribunal concludes a regulatory decision is illegal, it shall annul that decision and render individual decisions based on it null and void (Article XIV.3).
- Costs and awards (Article XIV.4; Article XV):
- If well-founded in whole or in part, the Tribunal may order reasonable costs incurred by the applicant, including counsel, to be borne in whole or in part by the Fund; factors include nature and complexity of the case, nature and quality of work, and fees relative to prevailing rates (Article XIV.4).
- The Tribunal may order that reasonable compensation be made by the applicant to the Fund for costs of defence if the application was manifestly without foundation or intended to delay or harass; amounts awarded may be collected by deductions from payments owed to the applicant or otherwise as determined by the Managing Director, who may waive the Fund's claim in particular cases (Article XV.1–2).
- Adjournment for corrective procedure (Article XIV.5):
- When Fund procedural rules were not observed, the Tribunal may, at the Managing Director's request, adjourn proceedings to permit institution of the required procedure or adoption of corrective measures, fixing a time certain for such measures.
Review, correction, transitional and affiliation provisions
- Revision and correction:
- Judgment revision: A party may request revision within six months after acquiring knowledge of a decisive newly discovered fact that was unknown to both Tribunal and party at time of judgment (Article XVI).
- Interpretation/correction: The Tribunal may interpret or correct obscure or incomplete judgments or typographical/arithmetical errors (Article XVII).
- Temporal scope and transitional provisions (Article XX):
- The Tribunal shall not be competent to pass judgment on administrative acts taken before October 15, 1992 (Article XX.1).
- Decisions taken between October 15, 1992 and establishment of the Tribunal are admissible only if filed within three months after establishment; Tribunal deemed established when staff notified by Managing Director that all members are appointed (Article XX.2).
- Amendments and affiliation (Articles XIX–XXI):
- The Statute may be amended only by the Board of Governors of the Fund (Article XIX).
- Competence may be extended to other international organizations by special agreement; such organizations must be bound by Tribunal judgments and responsible for payment of compensation awarded in respect of their staff, and must share administrative arrangements and expenses, but they do not participate in appointment of Tribunal members or amendment of the Statute (Article XXI).
Content in this bundle
- View PDF file
- 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