Universal-MigrationHRlaw-PG-no-6-Publications-PractitionersGuide-2014-eng

MIGRATION AND INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW | 287right which can be claimed in court. Article 2 of the ILO Convention setsout the basic principle:“Workers and employers, without distinction whatsoever, shallhave the right to establish and, subject only to the rules of theorganisation concerned, to join organisations of their own choosingwithout previous authorisation.”As declared by the ILO Congress in 1998, this right entails an obligationto promote and realise freedom of association, which is binding on allMembers of the ILO, even those who are not parties to Convention No.87. 1230 Freedom of association includes the freedom of the organisations todraw up their own constitutions and rules, elect their representatives, organisetheir administration and formulate their programmes, 1231 the rightof the organisations not to be subject to dissolution or suspension by theadministrative authority, 1232 and the right of the organisations to establishand join federations and confederations, whether national or international.1233 The exercise of these rights by the organisations must respectnational law, which “shall not be such as to impair, nor shall it be so appliedas to impair, the guarantees” contained in the Convention. 1234 Finally,freedom of association consists also in a right not to join a trade union. 1235Freedom of association, in trade union matters, has been describedby the Inter-American Court of Human Rights as being “of the utmostimportance for the defence of the legitimate interests of the workers,and falls under the corpus juris of human rights.” 1236 Moreover, theCourt has specified that this safeguard “has great importance based onthe principle of the inalienable nature of such rights, which all workerspossess, irrespective of their migratory status, and also the fundamentalprinciple of human dignity embodied in Article 1 of the UniversalDeclaration”. 12371230 Article 2, ILO 1998 Declaration.1231 Article 3, Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention (C87),ILO, adopted on 9 July 1948. Other relevant ILO Conventions are Right to Organise andCollective Bargaining Convention (C98), ILO, adopted on 1 July 1949; and Rural Workers’Organisations Convention (C141), ILO, adopted on 23 June 1975.1232 Article 4, ibid.1233 Article 5, ibid.1234 Article 8, ibid.1235 See, Young, James and Webster v. United Kingdom, ECtHR, Plenary, Application No. 7601/76;7806/77, Judgment of 13 August 1981, paras. 52, 57; Sorensen and Rasmussen v. Denmark,ECtHR, GC, Applications Nos. 52562/99 and 52620/99, Judgment of 11 January 2006;Sigurjonsson v. Iceland, ECtHR, Application No. 16130/90, Judgment of 30 June 1993. Seealso, Article 10.2 ACHPR; Article 8.3, Protocol of San Salvador.1236 Baena-Ricardo et al. v. Panama, IACtHR, Series C No. 72, Judgment of 2 February 2001,para. 158.1237 Advisory Opinion on Undocumented Migrants, IACtHR, op. cit., fn. 33, para. 157 (emphasisadded).