General Surveys under Article 19

The process of requiring reports on unratified Conventions and on Recommendations -- provided by Article 19 of the ILO Constitution -- is intended to refresh the possibility of implementation and ratification of international labour standards at the national level

The constitutional provision

Under article 19(5)(e) and (6)(d) of the Constitution, the Governing Body may request reports from each member State on the position of its law and practice in regard to the matters dealt with in Conventions which have not been ratified or Recommendations, showing the extent to which effect is given, or is proposed to be given, to any of the provisions of the Conventions or Recommendations. In the case of Conventions, the State shall also indicate "the difficulties which prevent or delay the ratification of such Convention."

General Surveys

For many years, the Governing Body has chosen a specified Convention and/or Recommendation, or groups of Conventions and/or Recommendations on given subjects, for article 19 reports each year. In accordance with the practice established by the Governing Body, the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations carries out a "general survey" on the selected instruments. The Committee relies on the information contained in governments' reports, on the reports submitted to the ILO by employers' and workers' organizations and -- as stated in each General Survey -- also on other information available to the Office such as legislation and other official documents. These General Surveys form part of the Committee of Experts' report to the Conference. The Conference Committee on the Application of Standards then devotes a day or so to discussing the General Survey each year.

It is hoped that through the process of formulating the report at the national level, the Social Partners will consider the possibility of implementing and/or ratifying the Convention concerned. In addition, the General Survey of the Committee of Experts is an authoritative exposition of the effects given and not given to the instruments concerned, and thereby an invaluable reference.

Information from employers' and workers' organizations

Under the Constitution, copies of the reports made by governments under article 19 must be sent to the representative organizations of employers and workers. Those, or any other employers' or workers' organizations, may make any observations they wish on the subjects in question.

Characteristics of reporting under article 19

From the examination above, it can be seen that the treatment of reports received under article 19 of the Constitution is determined as a result of decisions by the Governing Body within the framework of the Constitution's requirements. The characteristics are as follows.

The Constitution leaves decisions on requesting reports under article 19(5)(e), and the form of the reports, entirely to the Governing Body, at its discretion. The examination of the resulting reports has always been carried out by the Committee of Experts and the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards in the specific perspective of assessing obstacles to ratification; this is a matter of usage put into place by decisions of the Governing Body and is not the only way in which the Constitution would allow such an examination to be made. Governments are required by article 23(2) of the Constitution to send copies of their reports under article 19 to the representative organizations of employers' and workers' at the national level. It is also an established practice that these organizations may make comments on governments' reports under article 19.