Member State Obligations
ILO member States are free to decide whether to be legally bound to an ILO Convention by ratifying it. The ILO's mandate to promote international labour standards adopted by the International Labour Conference is nevertheless clear and provisions of the ILO's Constitution impose certain obligations
The submission obligation
International labour standards are intended for use in practice and to have an impact at the work
place. In this spirit, all member States are required to
bring new instruments
"before the authority or authorities within whose competence the matter lies, for the enactment of legislation or other actions". The competent natural authority should normally be the legislature. Knowledge
of the new international labour standards and public debate at the national level are intended by
this requirement.
The obligation to report on unratified Conventions and Recommendations
Even after international labour standards are first adopted by the International Labour Conference,
reporting procedures are used to refresh national debate of individual
international labour standards with a view to their possible implementation and ratification.
The implied obligation with regard to freedom of association
ILO member States some 50 years ago agreed that respect for freedom of
association was an obligation implied through membership; acceptance
of the ILO Constitution -- one necessary step for membership in the Organization
-- is viewed as the legal basis for this.
Accordingly, a procedure for enforcing this obligation was long ago put
in place.
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