[Ip-health] IP-Watch: Idris's Age Corrected AT WIPO Admidst Speculation Of Benefit-Seeking

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=3D362&res=3D1024_ff&print=3D0


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   13/7/2006


     Idris=92s Age Corrected At WIPO Amidst Speculation Of Benefit-Seeking


posted by William New @ 11:34 am

Kamil Idris, director general of the World Intellectual Property
Organization, has acted to correct his age as it is recorded at WIPO
after 20 years, setting off speculation that he stands to gain
handsomely from the change. In addition, some governments and others are
checking for instances of his misreporting to determine whether there
was a pattern, one official said.

When he joined WIPO 20 years ago, Idris=92s age was recorded inversely, as
1945 instead of 1954, a WIPO spokesperson confirmed, adding that this
has been corrected with all necessary authorities.

It is unclear why Idris
<http://www.wipo.int/about-wipo/en/dgo/dgki_2006_05.html> allowed the
error to exist for 20 years, or why he chose now to correct it. The
spokesperson said there is no age limit for candidates for the post of
WIPO director general, which would appear to remove the motivation of
staying on after reaching the standard UN retirement age of 60 or 61.

A letter sent last month to WIPO by the UN Joint Inspection Unit, and
seen by /Intellectual Property Watch/, said that the independent body
had received whistleblower reports that Idris=92s age had been
misrepresented on numerous occasions.

Perhaps the bigger question is what he stands to gain by correcting it.
The WIPO secretariat insists that he will not gain from the correction.
But officials from WIPO and member states expressed upset at the news in
recent weeks, and speculated widely as to its significance, many
suggesting that he stood to gain some CHF1 million from being nine years
younger in the UN system.

The basis for this assertion remains unclear, and appears to stem from
the argument that Idris would continue to receive pay after leaving WIPO
until reaching retirement age, so that the younger age would have netted
him nine years more pay. A proposal to include such an indemnity
appeared to be included in a WIPO secretariat proposal to the June
meeting of the Coordination Committee, which in effect is the executive
body of WIPO member states. The member states stripped it out. WIPO
argued, however, that this already exists in the WIPO staff rules.

Another possibility is that being younger could help him to remain in
office beyond his current term, which ends in 2009. If he wants to stay
on, it will take a three-quarters vote of the member governments to oust
him by passing a rule that directors general be limited to two terms.
Idris was named director general in 1997 (at age 43).

The WIPO spokesperson flatly countered the speculation about benefiting,
stating that there is no age limit for director general. =93The
rectification will not result in an extension of the director general=92s
mandate,=94 which is decided by member states, the spokesperson said.

In addition, =93There is no financial gain for Dr. Idris from the fact
that he corrected an administrative error - an inversion of the figures
in his date of birth from 1945 to 1954,=94 she said. =93All necessary
requirements and formalities were met and this has already been
corrected by the relevant bodies, namely, the United Nations Joint Staff
Pension Fund and the competent Swiss authorities.=94

The spokesperson said that, in fact, the rectification =93will result in a
considerable financial reduction in the pension of the director
general.=94 She also pointed out that =93far from profiting financially fro=
m
his position as director general of WIPO,=94 Idris has, since his
appointment in 1997, refused to accept the salary to which he is
entitled as secretary general of Union for the Protection of New
Varieties of Plants (UPOV), also housed at WIPO.