UN Considers Unified Ombuds Office

It is a little-known fact that United Nations staff cannot sue in national courts. Meanwhile, cases languish in the UN's internal judicial system for years and results can be overturned or ignored by management. A recent draft resolution, titled "Administration of Justice at the UN," seeks to reform the current system. The nine-page resolution sketches a two tier system, of appeals from a UN Dispute Tribunal to a UN Appeals Tribunal. On the informal, alternative dispute resolution side, it proposes a "single, integrated and decentralized Office of the Ombudsman for the UN Secretariat, Funds and Programs." UN watchers are disappointed, however, that the tentative date for implementing the new justice system is January 2009. (Inner City Press; related posts Job Posting: United Nations, UN Development Program Ombuds Report Warns of Retaliation Against Visitors.)