6th March 2025
Having been successful in the jurisdictional judgment delivered in February 2024 (Decision No. 2024/04), Alex Haines, leading Henry Reid, appeared for the Applicant at the final hearing, before five judges, in Jeddah on 3rd November 2024.
Alex represented the Saudi National Applicant against the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (“ICD”) in a termination case before the IsDBGAT. The Applicant challenged the Respondent’s decision to terminate his employment as the Director of the Internal Audit Department. The Tribunal agreed with the Applicant that the termination had been effectuated by ICD’s CEO and that the decision “was, for all intents and purposes, an administrative decision and not a ‘governance’ decision” [24]. In its judgment, the Tribunal also addressed ex parte filings and the production of documents. The Tribunal awarded costs against the Respondent.
The IsDBGAT
The IsDBGAT, operational from early 2022, hears cases brought by international civil servants who work at the IsDBG which is comprised of the Islamic Development Bank (“IsDB”), Islamic Research & Training Institute (“IRTI”), Islamic Corporation for Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (“ICIEC”), International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (“ITFC”), and ICD.
The Administrative Tribunal is a judicial body that functions independently of the IsDBG; its independence is guaranteed in its Statute and Rules of Procedure adopted in June 2020 and February 2022 respectively. The Tribunal is composed of five judges, all of whom are nationals of member states of one or more of the IsDBG institutions. Unusually for international judicial bodies of international organisations, Sharia applies (as well as the institutional texts of the IsDBG and international administrative law).
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