Committee of Experts on the Application of Ilo Conventions and Recommendations
Committee of Experts on the Application of Ilo Conventions and Recommendations : The examination of governments' reports on the application of ILO Conventions and Recommendations is carried out in the first instance by the Committee of Experts established for that purpose. The Committee consists of 20 independent persons of the highest standing, with eminent qualifications in the legal or social fields and with an intimate knowledge of labour conditions or administration. Members of the Committee are drawn from all parts of the world. They are appointed by the Governing Body of the ILO on the proposals of the Director-General, in their personal capacity, for a period of three years, their term of office being renewable for successive periods of three years. They meet each year in November/December in Geneva. It has been said that independence and objectivity are the life-breath of the international judicial inquiry. This statement is fully applicable to the functions and responsibilities of the Committee of Experts. In this connection, it may be useful to quote the words used by the Committee of Experts itself when it reaffirmed its belief in this fundamental principle in 1987: The Committee's fundamental principles, as voiced on a number of occasions, call for impartiality and objectivity in pointing out the extent to which it appears that the position in each State is in conformity with the terms of the Conventions and the obligations which that State has undertaken by virtue of the Constitution of the ILO. The members of the Committee must accomplish their task in complete independence as regards all Member States. Along with its function in examining governments' reports on the application of ratified Conventions, the Committee of Experts examines governments' reports on the situation in national law and practice as regards selected non-ratified Conventions and Recommendations. In examining the effect given to ratified Conventions, the Committee of Experts is not limited to the information provided by governments. Information on a country's legislation can usually be found in official gazettes and similar publications where laws and regulations are printed. Other documentation available to the Committee may include the texts of collective agreements or court decisions, the conclusions of other ILO bodies such as commissions of inquiry and the Governing Body Committee on Freedom of Association, and comments made by employers' or workers' organizations. Such comments may either be included by the government with its report, or addressed directly to the ILO by the organization concerned. In the latter case, the Office sends a copy of the observations to the government in question, so that the Committee can also consider any comment the government may wish to add in reply. The comments by workers' and employers' organizations on the application of ratified Conventions and, in general, on any other subject covered by governments' reports in the field of international labour standards are of great importance. They enable workers and employers to participate fully in the supervisory system of the ILO, almost continuously and at any time, and thus to contribute to a fuller implementation of international labour standards, as well as to contribute to improving working and living conditions. Furthermore, a comment from workers' or employers' organizations will typically prompt the Committee of Experts to request a report from the government even before it is next usually due. This places substantial responsibility on the social partners to be aware of the workings of the regular supervisory system. If the Committee finds that a government is not fully complying with the requirements of a ratified Convention, or with its constitutional obligations regarding Conventions and Recommendations, it addresses a comment to that government, drawing attention to the shortcomings and requesting that steps be taken to eliminate them. The Committee's comment may take the form of: observations, which are published in its report and which are used for the more serious or long-standing cases of failure to comply with obligations, and are also normally used when a workers' or employers' organization has sent in comments on the application of a ratified Convention which require follow-up; or direct requests, which are not published but are sent directly to the governments concerned, and to workers' and employers' organizations in the country concerned for information. Direct requests are usually made when a minor discrepancy is involved, or when the government has not made available sufficient information to enable the Committee of Experts to assess the way in which a ratified Convention is applied. These requests, together with the observations appearing in the Committee's published report, are sent to the government for reply together with the regular request for a report on the application of the Convention concerned. The Committee's observations are clear and to the point. They are also thorough. See: Committee on Freedom of Association; International Labour Organization; International labour standards
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