Administrative Tribunal

Nature and Status

The Administrative Tribunal is an autonomous body of the Bank and its decisions are binding, final and without appeal. The Administrative Tribunal is made up of six judges of whom three form a quorum to hear a case. The Statute of the Tribunal provides for the independence of the Judges of the Tribunal.
The Secretariat of the Tribunal is headed by an Executive Secretary appointed by the Bank’s President after consultation with the President of the Tribunal.

The Administrative Tribunal of the ADB is pleased to inform all international regional organisations that they may be member of its Tribunal for the settlement of dispute related to their staff.

Jurisdiction and applicable law

The Tribunal has jurisdiction under its Statute to hear and pass final judgment on applications by staff members contesting administrative decisions, for non-observance of their contracts of employment or the terms of their appointment, where the cause of action arose after 1st January, 1998. Matters which may fall within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal include, for example, decisions regarding the payment of staff benefits, promotion, performance evaluation, separation from the service of the Bank, as well as disciplinary measures taken against a staff member.

The Tribunal’s decisions are based on the internal law of the Bank. This comprises the Agreement Establishing the African Development Bank, the Bank’s Regulations and Rules including Instructions issued by the President of the Bank. The Tribunal may be guided in the interpretation of the internal law of the Bank by the jurisprudence of the Tribunals of other international institutions in similar circumstances. The Tribunal applies general recognized principles of international administrative law concerning the resolution of employment disputes of staff in international organizations.

Composition of the Tribunal

The Administrative Tribunal comprises six (6) judges appointed by the Board of Directors of the Bank from a list of candidates drawn by the President of the Bank after appropriate consultation.

Currently, the Tribunal comprises:

• A President in the person of Professor Yadh Ben Achour, a National of Tunisia, who holds a Doctorate in Law, from the University of Paris, France. He served in the following positions :
  • Dean of the Faculty of Legal, Politic and social sciences of Tunis.
  • Advocate in International Court of Justice, The Hague.

• A Vice-president in the person of Justice Salihu Modibbo Alfa Belgore, of Nigeria, chairman of the Nigerian Institute for Advanced Legal Studies. He served in the following positions:
  • Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria;
  • Judge of the Supreme Court of Nigeria;
  • Justice of the Court of Appeal;
  • Chief Judge Plateau State;
  • Governor of the National Judicial Institute.

And two (2) other judges:

• Justice Benjamin Joses Odoki from Uganda is currently Chief Justice of the Republic of Uganda.  He has served in the following positions:
  
  • Chairman, Uganda Constitutional Commission
  • Justice of the Supreme Court of Uganda
  • Director of Public Prosecution in Uganda
  • Director of the Law Development Center, Uganda
  • Chairman, The Uganda Law Council
  • Member, Permanent Court of Arbitration, The Hague, Netherlands
  • Chairman, Editorial Board of Uganda Law Reports
  • Lecturer and External Examiner, Law Faculty, Makerere University, Uganda

• Justice Anne L. Mactavish, of Canadian and British nationality.  She is currently a Judge of the Federal Court of Canada and has held the following positions:
  
  • Judge of the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada
  • Judge of the Federal Court and Member ex officio of the Federal Court of Appeal
  • Chairperson, Canadian Human Rights Tribunal
  • Past President of the County of Carleton Law Association
  • Past President of the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice
  • Past Associate and Partner, Perley-Robertson, Panet, Hill & McDougall

The process for the appointment of two other Judges is on course.

The Secretariat of the Administrative Tribunal of the African Development Bank is headed by an Executive Secretary in the person of Mrs. Albertine A.H. Lipou Massala of Congo. She is former President of the Labor Chamber of the Court of Appeal in Brazzaville/Congo and former Deputy Prosecutor of the Court of Appeal of Brazzaville.

Relation to Other Recourse Mechanisms

The Administrative Tribunal is the final step in the recourse mechanisms for aggrieved staff members.
In order to apply to the Tribunal, all available administrative remedies must be exhausted or the Applicant and the Bank must agree to submit the application directly to the Tribunal.

The Administrative review process has been revised to take into account the establishment of the Tribunal.

For non disciplinary cases, a staff member with a grievance submits it directly to the Vice-President in charge of personnel matters and all the way through the Staff Appeals Committee if necessary. Staff members who are unsatisfied with the President’s final decision can then appeal to the Administrative Tribunal.

In disciplinary cases, an aggrieved staff member may appeal against a disciplinary sanction taken by the President by filing an application directly to the Tribunal.

Where provision has been made for a specialised appeals mechanism to deal with specific matters such as job classification, the Staff Retirement Plan or others, an aggrieved staff member must first appeal to the specialized mechanism, before seizing the Administrative Tribunal.

Some of these recourse mechanisms are permanent:

• Ombudsman
• Staff Appeals Committee
• Disciplinary Committee
• Pension Appeals Committee  
• Others can be created as needed and in order to resolve specific issues:  
• Special Job Classification Appeals Committee
• Panel of Enquiry on Harassment