Employers' Handbook on ILO Standards-related Activities

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EMPLOYERS’ HANDBOOK ON ILO STANDARDS-RELATED ACTIVITIES
nation in ILO regular supervision, as well as of complaints/representations under
ILO special supervisory procedures.
The employers have welcomed the new abrogation and withdrawal procedures
as important complements to the existing methods of renewing ILS. They expressed
the hope that the constitutional amendment regarding abrogation will soon receive the
necessary number of ratifications so that it can enter into force and be put in practice.
From an employers’ viewpoint, it is also to be hoped that the four-fifths majority requirement
for a GB decision to put an abrogation or withdrawal item on the ILC
agenda will not turn out to be an obstacle to the use of this procedure. It should be
noted that this requirement does not exist for the inclusion of standard-setting items on
the agenda of the ILC.
Pending the coming into effect of the above constitutional amendment regarding
abrogation, in the employers’ view, the possibilities of shelving of outdated Conventions
should be more fully exploited. Ratification of shelved Conventions should be
actively discouraged by the Office and supervision of such instruments should be
avoided, as far as possible.
Denunciation of Conventions
Renewal is also an issue for individual ILO member States wishing to keep up to
date their obligations under ratified Conventions. Denunciation provides an important
means to terminate obligations under Conventions which, in the view of a government,
are outdated or no longer correspond to the needs of the country. In legal terms, it is the
actus contrarius to the ratification of a Convention. There are two forms of denunciation:
l Denunciations connected to the ratification of a revising Convention: The standard
final articles as from Convention No. 27 usually provide that a ratified Convention
is “automatically” denounced when a revising Convention (which has
entered into force) is ratified. Once ratification of the new revising Convention
becomes effective the commitments arising from the original instrument come to
an end. This is the most frequent case of denunciation.
l “Pure” denunciations: In the absence of a new revising Convention, or if there is
no intention to ratify a revising Convention, there is also the possibility of a “pure”
denunciation. However, most Conventions contain a provision restricting such
“pure” denunciations to intervals of one year after periods of ten years from the
Convention’s coming into force. A “pure” denunciation usually takes effect one
year after its registration with the Director-General of the ILO.
Convention No. 144 provides for government consultations with national employers’
and workers’ organizations on any proposal to denounce a ratified Convention
(Art. 5, Para. 1 (e); see also para. 5 (f) of Recommendation No. 152). Such consultations
are obligatory for countries having ratified Convention No. 144. In addition, the
ILO Governing Body has stated as a general principle that, if denunciation is contemplated,
the government should fully consult employers’ and workers’ organizations on