Introduction to the Compendium of disciplinary measures

Please note that the Compendium of disciplinary measures from 1 July 2009 – 31 December 2024 is available to all staff members on the HR Portal.

Once downloaded, the Excel document contains two tabs – the first tab contains all cases of established misconduct for the period from 1 July 2009-31 December 2024 and the second tab contains those that are being reported to the General Assembly as the Practice of the Secretary-General in disciplinary matters and cases of possible criminal behaviour, for the period 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2024. Users may sort data in the Excel documents by year, type of misconduct and disciplinary measure imposed.

1. The purpose of the compendium is to inform staff members of the practice of the Secretary-General in exercising his authority in disciplinary matters under article X of the Staff Regulations of the United Nations, and to implement paragraph 17 of resolution 59/287, in which the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to ensure that all staff of the Organization were informed of the most common examples of misconduct and/or criminal behaviour and their disciplinary consequences, including any legal action, with due regard for the protection of the privacy of the staff members concerned. Reference is also made to section 7.2 of the Secretary-General’s bulletin on addressing discrimination, harassment, including sexual harassment, and abuse of authority (ST/SGB/2019/8) which requires that information regarding disciplinary cases involving prohibited conduct as defined in that bulletin be included in the compendium. The compendium covers the period starting from 1 July 2009 and ending 31 December 2024 and is updated periodically.

2. The compendium contains a summary of the cases in which one or more disciplinary measures were imposed by the Secretary-General on Secretariat staff members during a calendar year. For ease of reference, the cases have been divided into nineteen types of misconduct: [The classification of cases under this typology is not binding and may be subject to change. ]

• Discrimination, harassment, including sexual harassment, and abuse of authority
• Failure to comply with financial disclosure obligations
• Failure to comply with private legal obligations
• Failure to report misconduct
• Fraud, misrepresentation and false certification
• Gross negligence
• Inappropriate or disruptive behaviour
• Misuse of information and communication technology resources
• Misuse of office
• Misuse of official documents
• Misuse of or failure to exercise reasonable care in relation to UN property or assets
• Procurement irregularities
• Retaliation
• Sexual exploitation and abuse
• Theft and misappropriation
• Unauthorized outside activities and conflict of interest
• Verbal abuse and physical assault
• Violation of local laws
• Other

3. For each case that led to the imposition of one or more disciplinary measures, a summary is provided indicating the nature of the misconduct and the disciplinary measure or measures imposed by the Secretary-General. The functional title of the staff members or other similar particulars thereto are provided only when these factors played a role in determining the measures to be taken. Conduct issues that were dealt with by means other than through the initiation of a disciplinary process are not listed.

4. Not every case brought to the attention of the ASG/OHR indicating possible misconduct results in disciplinary or other measures being taken. When a review by the Office of Human Resources reveals that there is insufficient evidence to pursue a matter as a disciplinary case, or when a staff member provides a satisfactory explanation in response to the formal allegations of misconduct, the case is closed. Cases will also typically be closed when a staff member retires or otherwise separates from the Organization before an investigation or the disciplinary process is concluded, unless continuation is in the interest of the Organization.

5. In the cases involving former staff members, a record is generally made and placed in the former staff member’s official status file so that the matter may be further considered if and when the staff member rejoins the Organization. In this regard, section 6.15 of administrative instruction ST/AI/2025/2 on the staff selection system provides that a former staff member “will be ineligible for re-employment following … resignation during a disciplinary process or an investigation of misconduct, unless the former staff member agrees to cooperate with an ongoing investigation or disciplinary process until its conclusion”. Where relevant, this provision is noted in records placed in official status files. This process is set out in section 9.9 of ST/AI/2017/1.

Approved by the Assistant Secretary-General
for Human Resources

5 August 2025