A decade in the making, former staff member of the UN Secretariat (1967-2004), Megzari, based his analysis of the UN’s internal justice system over a 70-year period on more than 3,000
documents. With a view to highlighting the need for reform and identifying the priority areas, he examined disputes, conformity with rules through judgments, advisory opinions and debates in
the General Assembly. The project was undertaken not only from a purely legal angle, but also from a political perspective, taking into account the views expressed by all parties to the
Tribunal’s judgments. Eighteen chapters are: establishment of the UN administrative tribunal; appointment of judges and lack of independence for tribunal; first judgments and first objections
by UN administration; legal assistance and reimbursement of legal costs before tribunal; first cases dismissing temporary staff members and consequent amendment of staff regulations; the
tribunal during cold war: the McCarthy cases; the first amendment to tribunal’s statute and first request for an advisory opinion of the ICJ; introduction of the ICJ; applications for review of
UNAT’s judgments through advisory opinions of the ICJ; abolition of article II; statistics on tribunal’s performance; evolution of oral proceedings before tribunal; delays in tribunal’s
administration of justice; possible miscarriages of justice and instances of inconsistent jurisprudence; the issue of a single tribunal for the UN family; proposals to reform the system of
justice; the abolition of UNAT and its replacement; assessment of internal justice in the new system. Annotation ©2016 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
