INTERNAL JUSTICE
Reviews, Appeals, Discipline, Investigations – Time for a Change!
The COVID-19 pandemic crisis is an unprecedented situation that forces most of us to remain confined and to telework. Nevertheless, the Staff Association continues to exchange and work actively on your behalf. This article introduces you to one of the themes that has seen some interesting developments in recent weeks: internal justice and investigations at CERN.
What is “internal justice”?
All staff members are subject to Chapter VI of the Staff Rules and Regulations, which deals with the settlement of disputes and discipline. Indeed, as international civil servants, we are no longer subject to national jurisdiction with regard to our conditions of employment or association arising from our contracts or the Staff Rules and Regulations. Our Organization therefore has several bodies such as the Joint Advisory Appeals Board (JAAB), the Joint Advisory Disciplinary Board (JADB) and various investigation processes (OC2 site access, OC5 IT security, OC9 harassment, OC10 fraud) to administer “internal justice” at CERN. Finally, the Director-General takes all final decisions in matters of internal justice. It is important to remember that a second level of jurisdiction exists: a final decision for CERN can be challenged externally, by lodging a complaint before the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organization, ILOAT.
Why does the Association consider this issue to be a priority?
CERN as an International Organization has the duties of a State towards its staff and must put in place exemplary, “best in class” processes in the field of investigations and internal justice. On the basis of feedbacks from the members appointed by the Association to the joint committees and from colleagues concerned by these processes, the conclusion is that this objective of exemplarity has not been fully achieved, an observation that is also more widely shared at various levels of the Organization. The Staff Association has therefore requested since 2017 the creation of a working group to improve, modernise, and harmonise the various procedures involved.
What are the interesting developments in recent weeks?
Following several interventions and reminders from the Association to the Standing Concertation Committee in 2018 and 2019, a working group on Internal Justice has just been launched in 2020. It brings together representatives of the Organisation's Legal Service, HR legal advisors, and the Staff Association. It will review the Organization's mechanisms for internal investigations, dispute resolution and disciplinary procedures, with a view to identifying areas for improvement and submitting proposals to management.
How did the Association prepare its proposals?
Following several interventions and reminders from the Association to the Standing Concertation Committee in 2018 and 2019, a working group on Internal Justice has just been launched in 2020. It brings together representatives of the Organisation's Legal Service, HR legal advisors, and the Staff Association. It will review the Organization's mechanisms for internal investigations, dispute resolution and disciplinary procedures, with a view to identifying areas for improvement and submitting proposals to management.
What are the Association's proposals in this area?
The Association has developed 21 concrete proposals based on the six main axes:
- Reviewing the design of the different systems of internal justice
- Streamline investigation processes
- Improving equality of means between the different parties
- Ensuring the independence and impartiality of the joint committees
- Clarifying and jointly agreeing on procedural rules and procedural steps
- Set up training for all stakeholders
It would be tedious to detail them all in this article but please do not hesitate to contact your delegate for more information. As an example, we present three of them.
- Establish a mediation procedure favouring face-to-face and direct exchanges, using informal conflict resolution tools for the early settlement of disputes.
- Allow collective requests for review and class action when a systemic dispute involves the same set of staff members.
- Periodically assess the quality of all investigations carried out at CERN and the resulting decisions by an independent body.
We will be sure to get back to you to inform you of the follow-up given by management to all these proposals for improving the internal justice systems currently in place at CERN.
