Before addressing the Tribunal, you are advised to consult the Council of Europe Staff Regulations, the Statute and the Rules of Procedure of the Administrative Tribunal. These documents are available in the following section of the Tribunal's website (Reference texts).

 Practicalities

At the Council of Europe (CoE)
  • Preconditions:
     
    • Initiation of the process of management review;

    • Lodging of a formal complaint with the Secretary General;

    • Following the rejection of the formal complaint, lodging an appeal with the Tribunal’s registry.
     
  • The prior lodging of a complaint is not necessary in case of an appeal against:

    • A disciplinary sanction, with the exception of a written warning;

    • A decision taken by the Secretary General personally;

    • An administrative decision implementing a legislative measure of general character adopted by the Committee of Ministers.
At the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB)
  • Preconditions:
     
    • Lodging a formal complaint with the Governor;

    • Following the rejection of the administrative complaint, lodging an appeal with the Tribunal’s registry.
     
  • The prior lodging of a complaint is not necessary in case of an appeal against:

    • A disciplinary sanction, with the exception of a written reprimand.

Specific practicalities for disputes related to the protection of personal data

At the Council of Europe (CoE) and the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB)
  • Preconditions:
     
    • Lodging a complaint with the Data Protection Commissioner of the CoE or the Data Protection Commissioner of the CEB, depending on the case;

    • After the notification of the Secretary General’s or Governor’s decision taken in accordance with the findings of the Commissioner, lodging an appeal with the Tribunal, in accordance with Article 14 of the CoE Staff Regulations or of the CEB Staff Regulations.

 Procedure

  • Three steps:
  1. Lodging the appeal

    The following documents must be transmitted to the registry in paper and electronic form, in English or in French:
 

            a) The form of appeal appended to the Rules of Procedure, to be printed out and signed by hand indicating the date on which it was signed;

            b) The grounds for the appeal, to be submitted either in full or in the form of a summary, depending on the choice of the appellant, with supplementary pleadings to be filed later;

            c) The list of documents submitted by the appellant and attached to the appeal form: this list must indicate each document attached to the appeal form and provide a brief description of each document.  Complete and legible copies of the documents should be attached, and the pages of the documents should be numbered consecutively.

Electronic documents should be in unscanned PDF format or in Word format. In the case of copies of electronic e-mails, any attachments to these e-mails which are relevant to the case should be submitted separately, in addition to the e-mail to which they are attached.
 

  1. Written procedure

    • Appellant’s supplementary pleadings (if grounds not submitted in full);

    • Secretary General’s or Governor’s observations.​​​​​

If the Chair decides that a second exchange of written submissions is necessary:

          • Appellant’s observations in reply;
          • Secretary General’s or Governor’s rejoinder.​​
 

  1. Oral procedure

    • Is the general rule;

    • No hearing if the Tribunal decides to dispense with it, on its own initiative or at the request of one of the parties

    • ​​​Interpretation can be provided where necessary.

Key features of the procedure

          • The parties may request, or the Tribunal may order:

            a) the hearing of witnesses;
            b) an expert testimony.

         • ​​​​​​​Possibility of applying to intervene in the procedure for:

           - Any person entitled to bring an appeal, only to support the submissions of one of the parties;

           - The Staff Committee where the appeal concerns the interests of the staff as a whole or a category of staff.
 

  1. Decision

Three types of decision on an appeal:

a) Order of manifest inadmissibility of the appeal

​​​​​​​b) Order to strike out an appeal out of the list of cases

​​​​​​​         ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​• ​​​​​​​Where the appellant withdraws the appeal; or

​​​​​​​         ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​• ​​​​​​​Where the appellant fails, without good reason, to provide information requested or to comply with set time limits; or
​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​         ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​• ​​​​​​​Where a friendly settlement has been reached which resolves the dispute between the parties.

​​​​​​​c) Judgment on the merits

​​​​​​​         ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​• ​​​​​​​Summarises the proceedings and the facts;

​​​​​​​         ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​• ​​​​​​​States the grounds on which the Tribunal relied in reaching its decisions (factual and legal arguments put forward by the parties and assessment of the Tribunal);

​​​​​​​         ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​• ​​​​​​​Sets out the operative part of the decision.

Key features of the judgment

​​​​​​​         ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​• ​​​​​​​Adopted by a majority vote;

​​​​​​​         ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​• ​​​​​​​No indication of the votes cast;

​​​​​​​         ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​• ​​​​​​​No separate opinions;

​​​​​​​         ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​• ​​​​​​​Cannot be subject to appeal;

​​​​​​​         ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​• ​​​​​​​Final and binding on the parties as soon as they are notified.

​​Operative part of the judgment

​​​​​​​         ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​• ​​​​​​​May annul the contested act;

​​​​​​​         ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​• ​​​​​​​May order the payment of a claim;

​​​​​​​         ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​• ​​​​​​​May order the payment of compensation for damages;

​​​​​​​         ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​• ​​​​​​​May include an order for costs.

Execution of the judgment

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​         ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​• ​​​​​​​The defendant informs the Tribunal of the execution of its judgments within thirty days of the date of notification;

​​​​​​​         ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​• ​​​​​​​In case of annulment by the Tribunal, the respondent may decide to pay to the appellant a sum by way of compensation in lieu of execution.

​​​​​​​Either party may make a request for rectification, interpretation, revision, and execution of a judgement (art. 17 of the Statute of the Tribunal)​​​​​​​.