Alex Haines and Courtney Step-Marsden secure a win in the first ever hearing before the IsDBG’s newly established Administrative Tribunal

Earlier this Summer, Alex Haines and Courtney Step-Marsden were instructed in an action against the Islamic Corporation for Development of the Private Sector (ICD) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Ahead of filing full Applications on the merits, Alex Haines and Courtney Step-Marsden lodged – through Provisional Applications – requests to suspend management’s decision to terminate the employment of five Staff Members. Following the IsDBG Administrative Tribunal’s first ever hearing on Saturday 13 August 2022, the Tribunal agreed that the discretionary power of the management in international organisations is neither an absolute nor an arbitrary power and it remained subject to judicial review by the Tribunal. It consequently declared its jurisdiction to examine the case and the President of the Tribunal issued the decision on 16 August 2022.

Insofar as the suspension of execution was concerned, the Tribunal accepted the Applicants’ arguments on both the seriousness of the damage and on its difficult or non-redressable nature in the event of execution of the contested decisions. The Tribunal ordered the suspension of the execution of the contested termination of employment decisions. The examination of the merits of the cases will be addressed at the Tribunal’s next session.

The newly established Administrative Tribunal 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 Development of the Private Sector (ICD), Islamic Corporation for Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), and International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC).

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 members, all of whom are nationals of IsDBG member countries.

Find out more

Alex Haines is a specialist in international law, with particular expertise in the extensive field of international organisations law. He was appointed as a Sanctions Officer at the Caribbean Development Bank in 2020 and is on the Attorney General’s London B Panel of Counsel to the Crown since 2019. He is admitted to both the New York and Irish Bars in addition to the Bar of England and Wales.

His practice areas include: (i) business crime and corruption including global investigations; (ii) sanctions and export control; (iii) international regulatory and disciplinary proceedings; (iv) institutional law of international organisations including their immunities and international administrative law; (v) international arbitration; and (vi) financial services inquiries (instructed on the Dame Linda Dobbs Review).

To find out more, contact Sam Carter on +44 (0)203 989 6669 or Colin Bunyan on +44 (0)20 7427 4886 for a confidential discussion.

Courtney Step-Marsden joined Chambers in 2020 following the successful completion of her pupillage.

She accepts instructions across all of Chambers’ areas. Her core practice includes Employment Law, Pensions Law, Court of Protection, Education, international and commercial work. Courtney has also seen the value of working in house, having recently been seconded to the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Courtney read Law at Somerville College, Oxford, where she won the prize for the highest performance in Law Moderations within her college. During her time at Somerville, she was an active member of her Junior Common Room, acting as Disabilities Officer. This involved advocating for and promoting the needs of disabled students in college and in the larger Oxford community. Courtney was also an Undergraduate Representative for the Bodleian Libraries’ Disability Sub-Committee.

To find out more, contact Sam Carter on +44 (0)203 989 6669 or Colin Bunyan on +44 (0)20 7427 4886 for a confidential discussion.

News 31 Aug, 2022