The UN General Assembly in December 2008 authorized the establishment of the Office of Staff Legal Assistance (OSLA) to strength "professional legal assistance for staff" to succeed the Panel of Counsel. OSLA has offices in New York, Addis Ababa, Beirut, Geneva and Nairobi.

OSLA Staff

OSLA has permanent staff consisting of 10: Chief of Unit (P-5), one Legal Officer (P3), one Legal Officer (P-2) and three Legal Assistants (General Service) in New York, and one Legal Officer(P-3) each in Addis Ababa, Beirut, Geneva and Nairobi. In addition it employs lawyers paid for by contributions by staff members. The OSLA staff is expected to regulate the "activity of internal and external individuals providing legal assistance to staff to ensure their independence and impartiality"

Responsibilities

OSLA is expected to provide legal assistance to staff, including summary legal advice; advice and representation during informal dispute resolution including formal mediation; assistance with the management evaluation review and during the disciplinary process; and representation of staff before the Dispute and Appeals Tribunals.

Cases by OSLA

UNDT-UNAT

During 2013, OSLA represented staff members in the UNDT in 71, and 34 out of the 125 cases of appeal judged by UNAT.

Cases in UNDT handled by OSLA by country

The highest number of cases by nationality that OSLA represented in 2013 were: US 41;

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29;

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

19:

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

12;

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

11;

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

13;

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

10 each. Amongst the larger countries the fewest cases overseen by OSLA were from India and Brazil had just 1.

Cases by gender

In 2013, OSLA handled 448 cases from male staff members and 314 from female staff members, about 41 and 59 percent respectively.

References

{{authority control United Nations General Assembly subsidiary organs International law organizations Organizations established by the United Nations United Nations legislation