Preamble Preambles of Conventions or Recommendations may clarify the context and the circumstances in which these instruments have been negotiated and adopted. They should remain concise and give the following information: a clause formally recalling the context of the instrument's adoption; the reasons for which it was adopted; the relationship with existing ILO standards or those of other international organizations; and any relationship with other international organizations during drafting and implementation. In order to achieve the instrument's objectives, the formal paragraphs relating to the adoption procedure should be retained. These paragraphs should, however, be standardized along the following lines: The General Conference of the International Labour Organization, Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and having met in its [number in words] Session on [opening date: day, month year], and Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard to [subject as indicated in the agenda item], which is the [number of item] item on the agenda of the session, and Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of a [choice of instrument: Convention or Recommendation], adopts this [date in words] day of [month and year in words] the following [Convention or Recommendation], which may be cited as the [title, year]. In the case of revision of Conventions, the preamble of the revising Convention should state the effect it has on a previous Convention. The following wording might be adopted: Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of an international Convention revising the [short title of the Convention being revised], Although a reference to partial or complete revision might appear on the agenda of the ILC, such a reference should always be avoided in the instrument. Adding such a qualifying term can lead to confusion, and experience has shown that in practice these terms have no legal consequences for the scope of the instrument. If a revising Convention has specific effects on the application of a previous Convention, those effects are spelled out in a specific provision within the operative part of the Convention. Revision should be reserved for Conventions, and therefore should not be used in respect of Recommendations or Conventions superseding Recommendations. Given the non-binding character of a Recommendation, one should state clearly the place assigned to it in the body of ILO standards at the time of its adoption by specifying in the preamble whether it supersedes or supplements one or more previous Recommendations. If a Recommendation is adopted at the same time as a Convention on the same subject, its preamble should always indicate that it supplements the Convention in question. These references should be included in the preambular paragraph stating the choice of the form of instrument and could be supplemented by a provision in the body of the Recommendation which states that "[t]he provisions of this Recommendation should be considered in conjunction with "those of the Conventions supplemented by it. References to other ILO instruments should be retained. International labour Conventions and Recommendations are intended to form a coherent framework of basic standards within the ILO's area of competence. One should ensure that there is no duplication or discrepancy between the provisions of the various Conventions and Recommendations. One common way of doing this is to include in the preamble of the Convention or Recommendation a reference to relevant existing texts. This approach gives a better idea of the overall framework of standards of which the new instrument forms a part, and is based on the notion that standards should form a coherent whole. Such references should be introduced by the word "Recalling", before the preambular paragraph stating the choice of the form of instrument. The following order of reference should be adhered to: references to relevant provisions of the ILO Constitution; references to the Declaration of Philadelphia; references to other instruments in reverse chronological order. Nevertheless, references to other ILO standard-setting instruments should be limited to instruments with which the Convention or Recommendation has a direct and tangible relationship as for example, where a new Convention or Recommendation revises, supersedes or supplements a previous Convention or Recommendation, or if the initiative to adopt the new instrument arises from a principle or an obligation laid down in another instrument, including one of a constitutional nature. References to instruments and texts whose legal character is not clear or not adequately defined, such as conclusions of Conference technical committees, or references to concepts that lack clear definition, should be avoided. The same observations apply in cases where the Convention or Recommendation is closely related to instruments adopted by other international organizations. In these cases, references should be limited to specific provisions of universal instruments or other international instruments of obvious relevance to the subject concerned. They should be introduced by the term "Noting" after the paragraph recalling ILO standards, and should mention the relevant provision of the universal instruments followed by the others in reverse chronological order. The practice of indicating the reason for adopting the instrument should be kept. Where there are already standards on the same subject, it would be appropriate to take into account any gaps in the existing standards which the new instrument is intended to fill. This could also be introduced in the preamble with the word "Considering" before the paragraph concerning the choice of form of instrument. In any event, such indications should be set out as succinctly as possible. Where Conventions and Recommendations are adopted and applied in collaboration with other international organizations, the collaboration could be mentioned in the preamble to indicate the instrument's place within the wider context of the international system. Such references appear obvious in the area of human rights, health, agriculture, or in the maritime sector. They could be introduced before the preambular paragraph on the choice of the form of instrument and begin with "Noting". Given that ILO instruments are the result of unique tripartite action on the international plane, one could include a paragraph in the preamble, where it is appropriate, recalling the importance of tripartite consultations. The practice developed in recent years of reproducing, in extenso, in the preamble of the Recommendation, the preamble of the Convention which is being supplemented, should be discontinued. It would be preferable in such cases to include only the formal paragraphs referred to in (b) above, together with a statement to the effect that the Recommendation supplements the Convention. The question of follow-up of Recommendations should also be left to the operative part of the instrument, rather than the preamble. Preambles of ILO Conventions might take the following form: The General Conference of the International Labour Organization, Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and having met in its [number of session in words] Session on [opening date: day, month year], and Having decided to adopt certain proposals concerning [subject as indicated in the agenda], which is the [number of agenda item] on the agenda of the session, [Recalling [provisions and short titles of ILO instruments]], [Noting [provisions and titles of other international instruments]], [Considering [objective and purpose of the Convention]], [Noting that the following provisions have been drawn up in collaboration with [name of the organization(s) concerned] and that this collaboration will be continued with a view to promoting and ensuring their application], Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of an international Convention [in the case of a revising Convention: Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of an international Convention revising the [title, year and number of revised Convention]], adopts this [date in words] day of [month and year in words] the following Convention, which may be cited as the [title, year] Preambles of autonomous ILO Recommendations could take the following form: The General Conference of the International Labour Organization, Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and having met in its [number of session in words] Session on [opening date: day, month, year], and Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard to [subject as indicated in the agenda item], which is the [number of item in words] item on the agenda of the session, and [Recalling [provisions and short titles of ILO instruments]], [Noting [provisions and titles of other international instruments]], [Considering [statement of the objective and purpose of the Recommendation]], [Noting that this Recommendation was drawn up in collaboration with [name of organization(s) concerned] and that this collaboration will be continued with a view to promoting and ensuring its application], Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of a Recommendation [[superseding] [supplementing]] [short title(s) of previous instrument(s)], adopts this [date in words] day of [month and year in words] the following Recommendation, which may be cited as the [title, year]. In the case of a Recommendation that supplements a Convention on the same subject, the preamble should take the following simplified form: The General Conference of the International Labour Organization, Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and having met in its [number of session in words] Session on [opening date: day, month, year], and Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard to [subject as indicated in the agenda item], which is the [number of agenda item in words] item on the agenda of the session, and Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of a Recommendation supplementing the [short title of the Convention being supplemented], adopts this [date in words] day of [month and year in words] the following Recommendation, which may be cited as the [title, year].
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