OEA - Resolución CP doc 6231 de 2026

OEA/Ser.G CP/doc.6231/26 17 June 2026

Original: Spanish

DRAFT RESOLUTION

REFORMS OF THE STATUTE OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL

(Agreed upon by the Permanent Council at its regular meeting held on June 17, 2026, and referred to the Plenary of the General Assembly for consideration)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

CONSIDERING:

That, by resolution AG/RES. 35 (I-O/71), the General Assembly, pursuant to its authority as the "supreme organ of the Organization of American States" under Article 53 of the Charter, created the OAS Administrative Tribunal for the purpose of considering "controversies that may arise as a result of administrative decisions affecting members of the staff of the General Secretariat" and guaranteeing "the observance of the general standards for the operation of the General Secretariat and other provisions relative to the rights and obligations of the staff members";

That, under Articles 53 and 54 of the Charter, the General Assembly has exclusive authority for determining the structure and functions of its organs, of which the Tribunal is one;

That during its LXXIV session, held in March 2024, the Administrative Tribunal, through its Resolution 416, approved and submitted for consideration by this Assembly the Proposed Reforms of its Statute;

The subsequent prioritization of reform proposals that the Administrative Tribunal submitted in December 2025, which concern Articles III, VI, and X of its Statute (CP/CAAP-4167/25); and

NOTING that Article XIV of the Statute of the Admnistrative Tribunal states: “The present Statute may be amended only by the General Assembly”,

PERMANENT COUNCIL2RESOLVES:

1. To adopt the reforms to Articles III, VI, and X of the Statute of the OAS Administrative Tribunal included as annex to this resolution.

PERMANENT COUNCIL2RESOLVES:

1. To adopt the reforms to Articles III, VI, and X of the Statute of the OAS Administrative Tribunal included as annex to this resolution.

2. To instruct the General Secretariat to publish the Statute of the Administrative Tribunal as amended in this resolution.- 3ANNEX

REFORMS TO ARTICLES III, VI, AND X OF THE STATUTE OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE

TRIBUNAL OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES.

Article III

Election, Qualification, and Service of Members

1. The Tribunal shall be composed of six members elected by the General Assembly to serve for terms of six years, such terms to be staggered so that one new member is elected each year.

2. The members of the Tribunal shall serve strictly in their personal capacity and shall:

a) Be nationals of an OAS member state, but no two members may be nationals of the same member state.

b) Meet the necessary requirements to be a member of a high jurisdiction of their country and should be lawyers or law professors with at least 15 years of legal experience.

c) To be persons of the highest moral character, impartiality and integrity.

3. The following persons are ineligible to serve as members of the Tribunal:

a) Staff members of the permanent missions of the Member States accredited to the Organization.

b) Their family members under the terms specified in the Staff Rules as regards family relationships, and persons serving in the General Secretariat of the OAS, in any of the entities of the inter -American system, or in any other American intergovernmental en tity that has recognized the jurisdiction of the Tribunal.

4. Members of the Tribunal who have ceased to hold office shall not sponsor or act as legal advisors or attorneys in cases submitted before the Tribunal for a period of five years from the end of their term of office.

that has recognized the jurisdiction of the Tribunal.

4. Members of the Tribunal who have ceased to hold office shall not sponsor or act as legal advisors or attorneys in cases submitted before the Tribunal for a period of five years from the end of their term of office.

5. A member's term shall begin on the first day of January following the member's election. If a member resigns or otherwise separates from the Tribunal before the expiration of his term, a substitute member shall be elected by the General Assembly, or the Permanent Council if the General Assembly is not in session, to serve for a new term the remainder of that member's term, but the substitute member shall not assume the seniority of the member being replaced. For all purposes, the election of a substitute member shall be considered as the first election, except when the person to be replaced was in the last year of service of his term.- 46. A member may be reelected but may serve no more than two terms in office. A member so reelected will lose all the seniority accumulated in his prior term.

7. The members of the Tribunal are officials of the Organization elected in their personal capacity by the General Assembly of the Organization, who are not part of the General Secretariat.

8. The Tribunal shall have a President and a Vice President. These offices shall be held successively for one year by each member of the Tribunal, beginning with the two members having the most and second most seniority, respectively.

9. The Tribunal shall perform its functions in chambers of three members. When deemed necessary, the Tribunal may exercise its functions in banc session with a minimum of four of its members.

10. The composition of the Administrative Tribunal shall reflect the two major legal traditions of the Hemisphere, the common-law tradition and the civil-law tradition.

Article VI

Admissibility of the Complaint

1. The Tribunal shall admit a complaint only:

a) When the person concerned has exhausted the procedures provided in the General

the Hemisphere, the common-law tradition and the civil-law tradition.

Article VI

Admissibility of the Complaint

1. The Tribunal shall admit a complaint only:

a) When the person concerned has exhausted the procedures provided in the General Standards or in other existing provisions, and the Secretary General has made the corresponding final decision;

b) When the procedures referred to in the preceding paragraph have not been exhausted, but the interested party and the Secretary General agree that the case should be presented to the Tribunal; and

c) When the situation contemplated in paragraph 3 of this article occurs.

2. For the complaint to be admissible, the person concerned must file it within ninety days after the date on which he was notified of the final decision of the Secretary General that is being contested.

3. If the Secretary General fails to make a final decision within thirty days following the date on which the procedures provided for in subparagraph (a) of paragraph 1 of this article have been completed, the interested party may have recourse to the Tribunal and his complaint shall be admissible as if such a decision had been taken. The same criterion shall apply during the reconsideration phase stipulated in the Staff Rules, if the Secretary General fails to comply with the regulatory periods stipulated for setting up a Joint Advisory Committee on Reconsideration, or if said Committee was set up, but it did not make its recommendations in time. In both cases, the interested party may have5recourse to the Tribunal within 30 days following the date on which the omission or delay of the

Secretary General occurred.

4. In exceptional cases, and for reasons that should be explained in the judgment, the Tribunal may admit a petition even if it is presented after the period of ninety days provided for in the two preceding paragraphs.

5. The filing of a complaint shall not have the effect of suspending implementation of the decision contested.

6. Complaints may be filed in any of the four official languages of the Organization of

American States.

preceding paragraphs.

5. The filing of a complaint shall not have the effect of suspending implementation of the decision contested.

6. Complaints may be filed in any of the four official languages of the Organization of

American States.

7. Before admitting the complaint of a person who is not a staff member, the Tribunal shall require that person to submit a filing fee, a bond, or other legally enforceable security in an amount up to the equivalent one month's remuneration (salary and post adjustment) at the P-4, step 6 level on the salary scale for headquarters, unless the Secretary General has expressly waived the reconsideration requirement, or unless a Reconsideration Committee or other formal conciliatory organ constituted by the Secretary General to advise him on the matter has found by a majority vote of its members that the person's claims are meritorious, or unless the Secretariat has failed to respond to a request for a hearing and request for reconsideration presented by the complainant in accordance with the requirements under the Staff Rules and other dispositions of the General Secretariat.

Nonetheless, if the person is a former staff member, the amount so required will be the lesser of the former staff member's last full monthly remuneration (salary plus post adjustment) or one month's remuneration (salary and post adjustment) at the P-4, step 6 level on the salary scale for headquarters.

Article X

Judgments

1. The Tribunal shall issue a judgment by a majority vote within 180 days from the date on which the case is ready for decision. Any concurrent or dissenting vote shall be included as an appendix to the judgment.

2. Except as provided in Articles XI and XII, judgments shall be final and without appeal.

3. The judgments shall state the reasons on which they are based and shall be written in any of the four languages of the Organization of American States, in one original which shall be deposited in the archives of the Secretariat of the Tribunal.

3. The judgments shall state the reasons on which they are based and shall be written in any of the four languages of the Organization of American States, in one original which shall be deposited in the archives of the Secretariat of the Tribunal.

4. A certified copy of the judgment shall be provided to each of the parties in the case, and to other interested persons at their request.