A v. European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites

The case originated from an employment dispute between a German citizen and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (Eumetsat). Mr A., an employe working as a personal assistant of the Director General of Eumetsat, filed a complain to the Appeals Board of Eumetsat in accordance with the Staff rules. Having obtain no relief by the internal procedure, Mr A. filed an application to the Administrative Court of Darmstadt, claiming the review of the Appeals Board’s decision and compensation for damages. The Administrative Court referred the case to the Labour Court, since the subject matter of the dispute fell into the competence of the latter court.

Pending the proceedings before the Labour Court, Eumetsat requested the High Administrative Court of Hesser to declared that German courts lack jurisdiction to rule upon employment dispute on the grounds of the immunity from legal process conferred on it under the Protocol on Privileges and Immunities of Eumetsat. In this regard, Eumetsat claimed that the Labour Court failed to address the issue of immunity at the preliminary stage of the dispute.

The High Administrative Court found that Eumetsat enjoyed immunity in the case at stake. Specifically, the Court underlined that Article 4 of the Protocol conferred on Eumetsat functional immunity for the activities performed in the exercise of its official functions. According to the Court’s reasoning, disputes involving employment relationships fall into the scope of the functional immunity of international organizations.