Chapter II.—Procedure (Art. 400 to 420)

Article 14 [400].

The agenda for all meetings of the Conference will be settled by the Governing Body, who shall consider any suggestion as to the agenda that may be made by the Government of any of the Members or by any representative organisation recognised for the purpose of Article 3 [389].

Article 15 [401].

The Director shall act as the Secretary of the Conference, and shall transmit the agenda so as to reach the Members four months before the meeting of the Conference, and, through them, the non-Government Delegates when appointed.

Article 16 [402].

1.

Any of the Governments of the Members may formally object to the inclusion of any item or items in the agenda. The grounds for such objection shall be set forth in a reasoned statement addressed to the Director, who shall circulate it to all the Members of the Permanent Organisation.

2.

Items to which such objection has been made shall not, however, be excluded from the agenda, if at the Conference a majority of two-thirds of the votes cast by the Delegates present is in favour of considering them.

3.

If the Conference decides (otherwise than under the preceding paragraph) by two-thirds of the votes cast by the Delegates present [Page 706] that any subject shall be considered by the Conference, that subject shall be included in the agenda for the following meeting.

Article 17 [403].

1.

The Conference shall regulate its own procedure, shall elect its own President, and may appoint committees to consider and report on any matter.

2.

Except as otherwise expressly provided in this Part of the present Treaty, all matters shall be decided by a simple majority of the votes cast by the Delegates present,

3.

The voting is void unless the total number of votes cast is equal to half the number of the Delegates attending the Conference.

Article 18 [404].

The Conference may add to any committees which it appoints technical experts, who shall be assessors without power to vote.

Article 19 [405].

1.

When the Conference has decided on the adoption of proposals with regard to an item in the agenda, it will rest with the Conference to determine whether these proposals should take the form: (a) of a recommendation to be submitted to the Members for consideration with a view to effect being given to it by national legislation or otherwise, or (b) of a draft international convention for ratification by the Members.

2.

In either case a majority of two-thirds of the votes cast by the Delegates present shall be necessary on the final vote for the adoption of the recommendation or draft convention, as the case may be, by the Conference.

3.

In framing any recommendation or draft convention of general application the Conference shall have due regard to those countries in which climatic conditions, the imperfect development of industrial organisation or other special circumstances make the industrial conditions substantially different and shall suggest the modifications, if any, which it considers may be required to meet the case of such countries.

4.

A copy of the recommendation or draft convention shall be authenticated by the signature of the President of the Conference and of the Director and shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the League of Nations. The Secretary-General will communicate a certified copy of the recommendation or draft convention to each of the Members.

5.

Each of the Members undertakes that it will, within the period of one year at most from the closing of the session of the Conference, or if it is impossible owing to exceptional circumstances to do so within the period of one year, then at the earliest practicable moment and in no case later than eighteen months from the closing of the session of the Conference, bring the recommendation or draft convention before the authority or authorities within whose competence the matter lies, for the enactment of legislation or other action.

6.

In the case of a recommendation, the Members will inform the Secretary-General of the action taken.

7.

In the case of a draft convention, the Member will, if it obtains the consent of the authority or authorities within whose competence the matter lies, communicate the formal ratification of the convention to the Secretary-General and will take such action as may be necessary to make effective the provisions of such convention.

8.

If on a recommendation no legislative or other action is taken to make a recommendation effective, or if the draft convention fails to obtain the consent of the authority or authorities within whose competence the matter lies, no further obligation shall rest upon the Member.

9.

In the case of a federal State, the power of which to enter into conventions on labour matters is subject to limitations, it shall be in the discretion of that Government to treat a draft convention to which such limitations apply as a recommendation only, and the provisions of this Article with respect to recommendations shall apply in such case.

10.

The above Article shall be interpreted in accordance with the following principle:

11.

In no case shall any Member be asked or required, as a result of the adoption of any recommendation or draft convention by the Conference, to lessen the protection afforded by its existing legislation to the workers concerned.

Note to XIII, 19 [405]

CONVENTIONS AND DRAFT CONVENTIONS ADOPTED BY THE CONFERENCE

[Page 708] [Page 709]

Short title	Number of ratifications registered December 1945	Date of first entry into force
1. Hours of work (industry), 1919	25	June 13, 1921
2. Unemployment, 1919	32	July 14, 1921
3. Childbirth, 1919	16	June 13, 1921
4. Night work (women), 1919	33	June 13, 1921
41. Night work (women) (revised), 1934	17	Nov. 22, 1936
5. Minimum age (industry), 1919	29	June 13, 1921
59. Minimum age (industry) (revised), 1937	2	Feb. 21, 1941
6. Night work (young persons), 1919	32	June 13, 1921
7. Minimum age (sea), 1920	32	Sept. 27, 1921
58. Minimum age (sea) (revised), 1936	6	Apr. 11, 1939
8. Unemployment indemnity (shipweck), 1920	28	Mar. 16, 1923
9. Employment of seamen, 1920	27	Nov. 23, 1921
10. Minimum age (agriculture), 1921	20	Aug. 31, 1923
11. Rights of association (agriculture), 1921	34	May 11, 1923
12. Workmen’s compensation (agriculture), 1921	23	Feb. 26, 1923
13. Use of white lead in painting, 1921	27	Aug. 31, 1923
14. Weekly rest (industry), 1921	34	June 19, 1923
15. Minimum age (trimmers and stokers), 1921	33	Nov. 20, 1922
16. Medical examination, young persons (sea), 1921	34	Nov. 20, 1922
17. Workmen’s compensation (accidents), 1925	19	Apr. 1, 1927
18. Workmen’s compensation (occupational diseases)	31	Apr. 1, 1927
42. Workmen’s compensation (occupational diseases) (revised), 1934	14	June 17, 1936
19. Equality of treatment (accident compensation), 1925	38	Sept. 8, 1926
20. Night work (bakeries), 1925	12	May 26, 1928
21. Inspection of emigrants on board ship, 1926	22	Dec. 29, 1927
22. Seamen’s articles of agreement, 1926	26	Apr. 4, 1928
23. Repatriation of seamen, 1926	17	Apr. 16, 1928
24. Sickness insurance (industry, etc.), 1927	17	July 15, 1928
25. Sickness insurance (agriculture), 1927	11	July 15, 1928
26. Minimum wage fixing machinery, 1928	22	June 14, 1930
27. Weight of packages transported by vessels, 1929	36	Mar. 9, 1932
28. Protection against accidents (dockers), 1929, 1932	4	Apr. 1, 1932
32. Protection against accidents (dockers) (revised), 1932	9	Oct. 30, 1934
29. Forced or compulsory labor, 1930	22	May 1, 1932
30. Hours of work (commerce and offices), 1930	10	Aug. 29, 1933
31. Hours of work (coal mines), 1931	1
32. (See no. 28)
33. Minimum age (non-industrial employment), 1932	7	June 6, 1935
60. Minimum age (non-industrial employment) (revised), 1937	0
34. Fee-charging employment agencies, 1933	5	Oct. 18, 1936
35. Old-age insurance (industry, etc.), 1933	4	July 18, 1937
36. Old-age insurance (agriculture), 1933	3	July 18, 1937
37. Invalidity insurance (industry, etc.), 1933	3	July 18, 1937
38. Invalidity insurance (agriculture), 1933	3	July 18, 1937
39. Survivors’ insurance (industry, etc.), 1933	2	Nov. 8, 1946
40. Survivors’ insurance (agriculture), 1933	1
41. (See no. 4)
42. (See no. 18)
43. Sheet-glass works, 1934	7	Jan. 13, 1938
44. Unemployment provision, 1934	4	June 10, 1938
45. Mine work (women) (1935)	23	May 30, 1937
46. Hours of work (coal mines) (1935)	2
47. Reduction of hours (1935)	1
48. Migrants’ pension rights (1935)	4	Aug. 10, 1938
49. Reduction of hours (glass-bottle works) (1935)	6	June 10, 1938
50. Recruiting of indigenous workers (1936)	3	Sept. 8, 1939
51. Reduction of hours (public works) (1936)	1
52. Holidays with pay (1936)	4	Sept. 22, 1939
53. Officers’ competency certificates (1936)	9	Mar. 29, 1939
54. Holidays with pay (sea) (1936)	3
55. Ship-owners’ liability (sick and injured seamen) (1936)	3	Oct. 29, 1939
56. Sickness insurance (sea) (1936)	0
57. Hours of work and manning (sea) (1936)	4
58. (See no. 7)
59. (See no. 5)
60. (See no. 33)
61. Reduction of hours of work (textiles) (1937)	1
62. Safety provisions (building) (1937)	2	July 4, 1942
63. Statistics of wages and hours of work (1938)	10	June 22, 1940
64. Contracts of employment (indigenous workers) (1939)	1
65. Penal sanctions (indigenous workers) (1939)	1
66. Migration for employment (1939)	0
67. Hours of work and rest periods (road transport) (1939)	0

[Page 710]

RECOMMENDATIONS ADOPTED BY THE CONFERENCE

1. Unemployment (1919).

2. Reciprocity of treatment of foreigners (1919).

3. Anthrax prevention (1919).

4. Lead poisoning (women and children) (1919).

5. Labor inspection (health services) (1919).

6. White phosphorus (1919); adherence to 1906 convention; ratifications and adherences, 35 (99 British and Foreign State Papers, p. 986).

7. Hours of work (fishing) (1920).

8. Hours of work (inland navigation) (1920).

9. National seamen’s codes (1920).

10. Unemployment insurance (seamen) (1920).

11. Unemployment (agriculture) (1921).

12. Childbirth (agriculture) (1921).

13. Night work of women (agriculture) (1921).

14. Night work of children and young persons (agriculture) (1921).

15. Vocational education (agriculture) (1921).

16. Living-in conditions (agriculture) (1921).

17. Social insurance (agriculture) (1921).

18. Weekly rest (commerce) (1921).

19. Migration statistics (1922).

20. Labor inspection (1923).

21. Utilization of spare time (1924).

22. Workmen’s compensation (minimum scale) (1925).

23. Workmen’s compensation (jurisdiction) (1925).

24. Workmen’s compensation (occupational diseases) (1925).

25. Equality of treatment (accident compensation) (1925).

26. Migration (protection of females at sea) (1926).

27. Repatriation (ship masters and apprentices) (1926).

28. Labor inspection (seamen) (1926).

29. Sickness insurance (1927).

30. Minimum-wage-fixing machinery (1928).

31. Prevention of industrial accidents (1929).

32. Power-driven machinery (1929).

33. Protection against accidents (dockers); reciprocity (1929).

34. Protection against accidents (dockers); consultation of organizations (1929).

35. Forced labor (indirect compulsion) (1930).

36. Forced labor (regulation) (1930).

37. Hours of work (hotels, etc.) (1930).

38. Hours of work (theaters, etc.) (1930).

39. Hours of work (hospitals, etc.) (1930).

40. Protection against accidents (dockers); reciprocity (1932).

41. Minimum age (non-industrial employment) (1932).

42. Employment agencies (1933).

43. Invalidity, old-age and survivors insurance (1933).

44. Unemployment provision (1934).

[Page 711]

45. Unemployment (young persons) (1935).

46. Progressive elimination of recruiting (1936).

47. Annual holidays with pay (1936).

48. Promotion of seamen’s welfare in ports (1936).

49. Hours of work on board ship and manning (1936).

50. International cooperation in respect of public works (1937).

51. National planning of public works (1937).

52. Minimum age for admission of children to industrial employment in family undertakings (1937).

53. Safety provisions in the building industry (1937).

54. Inspection in the building industry (1937).

55. Cooperation in accident prevention in the building industry (1937).

56. Vocational education for the building industry (1937).

57. Vocational training (1939).

58. Maximum length of written contracts of employment of indigenous workers (1939).

59. Labor inspectorates for indigenous workers (1939).

60. Apprenticeship (1939).

61. Recruitment, placing, and conditions of labor of migrants for employment (1939).

62. Cooperation between states relating to the recruitment, placing, and conditions of labor of migrants for employment (1939).

63. Individual control books in road transport (1939).

64. Regulation of night work in road transport (1939).

65. Methods of regulating hours of work in road transport (1939).

66. Rest periods of professional drivers of private vehicles (1939).

67. Income security (1944).

68. Social security (armed forces) (1944).

69. Medical care (1944).

70. Social policy in dependent territories (1944).

71. Employment (transition from war to peace) (1944).

72. Employment service (1944).

73. Public works (national planning) (1944).

74. Social policy in dependent territories (supplementing provisions) (1945).

Article 20 [406].

Any convention so ratified shall be registered by the Secretary-General of the League of Nations, but shall only be binding upon the Members which ratify it.

Note to XIII, 20 [406]

Conventions which have entered into force are not published in the League of Nations Treaty Series. A certified text of the draft conventions and recommendations adopted at each session of the Conference [Page 712] is issued by the International Labor Office, which has compiled the whole body of those instruments in successive cumulated editions. A systematic arrangement of the conventions and recommendations adopted 1919–39 with notes and appendixes was published by the Office in 1941 as The International Labour Code, 1939.

Article 21 [407].

1.

If any convention coming before the Conference for final consideration fails to secure the support of two-thirds of the votes cast by the Delegates present, it shall nevertheless be within the right of any of the Members of the Permanent Organisation to agree to such convention among themselves.

2.

Any convention so agreed to shall be communicated by the Governments concerned to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations, who shall register it.

Article 22 [408].

Each of the Members agrees to make an annual report to the International Labour Office on the measures which it has taken to give effect to the provisions of conventions to which it is a party. These reports shall be made in such form and shall contain such particulars as the Governing Body may request. The Director shall lay a summary of these reports before the next meeting of the Conference.

Article 23 [409].

In the event of any representation being made to the International Labour Office by an industrial association of employers or of workers that any of the Members has failed to secure in any respect the effective observance within its jurisdiction of any convention to which it is a party, the Governing Body may communicate this representation to the Government against which it is made and may invite that Government to make such statement on the subject as it may think fit.

Article 24 [410].

If no statement is received within a reasonable time from the Government in question, or if the statement when received is not deemed to be satisfactory by the Governing Body, the latter shall have the right to publish the representation and the statement, if any, made in reply to it.

[Page 713]

Article 25 [411].

1.

Any of the Members shall have the right to file a complaint with the International Labour Office if it is not satisfied that any other Member is securing the effective observance of any convention which both have ratified in accordance with the foregoing Articles.

2.

The Governing Body may, if it thinks lit, before referring such a complaint to a Commission of Enquiry, as hereinafter provided for, communicate with the Government in question in the manner described in Article 23 [409].

3.

If the Governing Body does not think it necessary to communicate the complaint to the Government in question, or if, when they have made such communication, no statement in reply has been received within a reasonable time which the Governing Body considers to be satisfactory, the Governing Body may apply for the appointment of a Commission of Enquiry to consider the complaint and to report thereon.

4.

The Governing Body may adopt the same procedure either of its own motion or on receipt of a complaint from a Delegate to the Conference.

5.

When any matter arising out of Articles 24 [410] or 25 [411] is being considered by the Governing Body, the Government in question shall, if not already represented thereon, be entitled to send a representative to take part in the proceedings of the Governing Body while the matter is under consideration. Adequate notice of the date on which the matter will be considered shall be given to the Government in question.

Article 26 [412].

1.

The Commission of Enquiry shall be constituted in accordance with the following provisions:

2.

Each of the Members agrees to nominate within six months of the date on which the present Treaty comes into force three persons of industrial experience, of whom one shall be a representative of employers, one a representative of workers, and one a person of independent standing, who shall together form a panel from which the Members of the Commission of Enquiry shall be drawn.

3.

The qualifications of the persons so nominated shall be subject to scrutiny by the Governing Body, which may by two-thirds of the votes cast by the representatives present refuse to accept the nomination of any person whose qualifications do not in its opinion comply with the requirements of the present Article.

4.

Upon the application of the Governing Body, the Secretary-General of the League of Nations shall nominate three persons, one from each section of this panel, to constitute the Commission of Enquiry, and shall designate one of them as the President of the Commission. None of these three persons shall be a person nominated to the panel by any Member directly concerned in the complaint.

Article 27 [413].

The Members agree that, in the event of the reference of a complaint to a Commission of Enquiry under Article 411, they will each, whether directly concerned in the complaint or not, place at the disposal of the Commission all the information in their possession which bears upon the subject-matter of the complaint.

Article 28 [414].

1.

When the Commission of Enquiry has fully considered the complaint, it shall prepare a report embodying its findings on all questions of fact relevant to determining the issue between the parties and containing such recommendations as it may think proper as to the steps which should be taken to meet the complaint and the time within which they should be taken.

2.

It shall also indicate in this report the measures, if any, of an economic character against a defaulting Government which it considers to be appropriate, and which it considers other Governments would be justified in adopting.

Article 29 [415].

1.

The Secretary-General of the League of Nations shall communicate the report of the Commission of Enquiry to each of the Governments concerned in the complaint, and shall cause it to be published.

2.

Each of these Governments shall within one month inform the Secretary-General of the League of Nations whether or not it accepts the recommendations contained in the report of the Commission; and if not, whether it proposes to refer the complaint to the Permanent Court of International Justice of the League of Nations.

Article 30 [416].

In the event of any Member failing to take the action required by Article 19 [405], with regard to a recommendation or draft Convention, [Page 715] any other Member shall be entitled to refer the matter to the Permanent Court of International Justice.

Article 31 [417].

The decision of the Permanent Court of International Justice in regard to a complaint or matter which has been referred to it in pursuance of Article 29 [415] or Article 30 [416] shall be final.

Article 32 [418].

The Permanent Court of International Justice may affirm, vary or reverse any of the findings or recommendations of the Commission of Enquiry, if any, and shall in its decision indicate the measures, if any, of an economic character which it considers to be appropriate, and which other Governments would be justified in adopting against a defaulting Government.

Article 33 [419].

In the event of any Member failing to carry out within the time specified the recommendations, if any, contained in the report of the Commission of Enquiry, or in the decision of the Permanent Court of International Justice, as the case may be, any other Member may take against that Member the measures of an economic character indicated in the report of the Commission or in the decision of the Court as appropriate to the case.

Article 34 [420].

The defaulting Government may at any time inform the Governing Body that it has taken the steps necessary to comply with the recommendations of the Commission of Enquiry or with those in the decision of the Permanent Court of International Justice, as the case may be, and may request it to apply to the Secretary-General of the League to constitute a Commission of Enquiry to verify its contention. In this case the provisions of Articles 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, and 32 [412, 413, 414, 415, 417 and 418] shall apply, and if the report of the Commission of Enquiry or the decision of the Permanent Court of International Justice is in favour of the defaulting Government, the other Governments shall forthwith discontinue the measures of an economic character that they have taken against the defaulting Government.