Guide on ratification of the Migrant Workers Convention

6. Other values of treaties
Domestic jurisprudence in a number of countries has allowed international treaties to be cited
in legal complaints and court proceedings even when that country has not ratified or acceded
to the particular treaty. Reference to international treaties and indeed to United Nations
documents in general has increased sharply in recent years. 16
The very existence of a treaty has been a powerful information and pressure tool in
international fora against governments that insist on continuing practices that violate
international norms. International standards have a powerful moral value, which also aids
proponents of better standards or opponents of abuse of human rights in domestic public,
press and parliamentary debates.
International standards serve as a useful guide and sometimes effective stimulus in the
development of specific legislation incorporating some of the standards, even if a government
is unwilling or unable to incorporate the entire content, and thus resists ratifying or acceding.
In particular, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and Members of Their Families can be used as a tool to promote a human rightsbased
approach to migration, both in the development of national migration policies and in
bilateral or multilateral processes concerning migration.
International standards may be valuable organising tools for groups or communities of
affected people. In and of itself, recognition as a group with rights that require protection can
be very empowering for members of that group. It assists in upholding and restoring a sense
of dignity to affected individuals. It can motivate organising and collective action by
confirming international recognition and support for their situation.
16 See inter alia Paul Hellyer. 2007. “UN Documents in US Case Law” in Law Library Journal, vol.
99, p. 4. See also Oxford Law reports and the Lexis-Nexis databases.
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