57As regards, in particular, a suspension decision adopted on the basis of Article 23 of Annex IX to the Staff Regulations, which is taken where there is an accusation of serious misconduct, it has been held that, while taking into account the urgency which normally obtains when such a decision is taken, that decision must be adopted in accordance with the rights of the defence, of which the right to be heard is one expression. Consequently, unless special circumstances are duly established, a decision to suspend a person from duty as a disciplinary measure may be adopted only after the official or staff member concerned has been put in a position effectively to make known his views on the evidence relied on against him and on which the competent authority proposes to base that decision (judgments of 15 June 2000 in F v Commission, T‑211/98, EU:T:2001:153, paragraphs 26 et seq., and 16 December 2004 in De Nicola v EIB, T‑120/01 and T‑300/01, EU:T:2004:367, paragraph 123).
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