THE COBBLER’S JUSTICE

Mr. S., high-ranking official at the UN in Geneva, appeared to be a total failure, stated his chief only a few months after his recruitments. One year later his “case” was solved through a transfer to New York with a promotion. Ms. P., shorthand clerk who found herself in a similar case, had her contract terminated.

Don’t look around to find out who’s who. These cases are real. However they go back to… 1951, even though they could very well have taken place yesterday. It is quite amazing to see how little things have changed in half a century. It is mainly due to our system of internal justice that is “outmoded, dysfunctional, ineffective, and lacks independence… it is very expensive to run…”. In other words internal justice at the UN does not mean anything but costs a lot! We all knew it: But now it is official and clearly stated in a document transmitted to the UN General Assembly (A/61/205).

It is regrettable that the organization which is supposed to defend human rights throughout the world has a system of justice where the complainant has to ask a benevolent colleague to defend him/her and cannot seek the help of a professional lawyer, where decisions can take months, and even in some cases years.

Let us hope that the new team will take quickly the adequate decisions so that finally the cobbler’s children will stop being always the worst shod.