Building an Administrative Tribunal of an International Financial Institution from Scratch: Lessons from the European Stability Mechanism

Abstract

This chapter describes the background and decisions that lay behind the creation of the Administration Tribunal of the European Stability Mechanism (esm) in 2014. It explains the unusual options and policy choices that presented themselves, given that the esm was established as an international organization with its own treaty. The esm stands largely outside the European Union’s (EU) legal order, under public international law, but operationally must be very closely coordinated with the competent EU institutions to ensure consistency with EU law. The chapter covers the procedural and resourcing issues the esm resolved with the help of the European Free Trade Association, and its registry, to which the esm outsourced the forum for oral hearings and registry support. In addition, the chapter touches on the underlying philosophy and aspirations of the esm human resources and legal functions in the context of esm’s mandate and its desired relationship with a highly professional, expatriate staff. This chapter looks at the needs the esm sees for other means of dispute resolution for staff and how it is trying to meet these, possible avenues for case management before the relevant tribunal makes its final decision and the current ‘multi-forum’ situation of the jurisprudence which may adversely influence policy-making.