Some Practical Issues Arising in International Administrative Tribunals

Abstract

The occasion of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the World Bank Administrative Tribunal (WBAT) presents itself both as a challenge and as an opportunity to consider some of the practical issues arising in the operations of the WBAT and other international administrative tribunals. Accordingly, this chapter focuses on the following topics: (1) the composition of administrative tribunals; (2) their internal functioning; (3) the handling by tribunals of frivolous and abusive requests; and (4) the extent to which judgments of such tribunals are final. Many international administrative tribunals have been confronted with the problem of how to respond to the filing of applications. Such applications certainly add to the workload of the tribunals, take up time that could be devoted to meritorious cases, can involve lengthy proceedings and are costly to the respondent institution that has to defend the cases in addition to bearing the expenses of the Tribunal.Keywords:international administrative tribunals; judgments; World Bank Administrative Tribunal (WBAT)