Content of final provisions
  1. Following the dissolution of the League of Nations and, in particular, the decision to transfer to the ILO Director-General and the United Nations Secretary-General the depositary functions formerly assumed by the Secretary-General of the League of Nations, the standard Final Articles A, D and E, which took their present form in 1946;[128] set out the functions of these officials in the following terms[129]:
Article A
  • The formal ratifications of this Convention shall be communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office for registration.
Article D
  • The Director-General of the International Labour Office shall notify all Members of the International Labour Organisation of the registration of all ratifications and denunciations communicated to him by the Members of the Organisation.
  • When notifying the Members of the Organisation of the registration of the [second] ratification communicated to him, the Director-General shall draw the attention of the Members of the Organisation to the date upon which this Convention will come into force.
Article E
  • The Director-General of the International Labour Office shall communicate to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for registration in accordance with Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations full particulars of all ratifications, acts of denunciation and declarations registered by him in accordance with the provisions of the preceding Articles.
  1. The provisions of Articles A and D supplement article 19, paragraph 4, of the Constitution, according to which the Director-General as depositary is required to communicate a certified copy of the Convention to each Member. Under the terms of Article A, the depositary functions include registration of ratifications and, under Article C concerning denunciation (see denunciation), also include dealing with denunciations. Article D adds the obligation to notify all Members of any registrations and denunciations. Lastly, when notifying Members of registration of the second ratification (the standard number, discussed under Number of ratifications necessary for entry into force), the Director-General is required to draw Members' attention to the date of entry into force of the Convention.
  1. The Director-General fulfils his obligation to notify Members principally by publishing the relevant information in the ILO's OB (Series A). In practice, this information does not include separate notice of automatic denunciations arising from ratification of a revising Convention. This can be explained by the fact that such denunciations do not come about through "acts of denunciation" within the strict meaning of Article D, paragraph 1. Detailed information, including the mention of any automatic denunciations, is also presented annually to the Conference in a special section of the report of the CEACR. Lastly, the Governing Body in its March and November sessions is also informed, through the report of the Director-General, of any ratifications and denunciations, including any reasons given by governments for denunciation, as it had requested at its 184th Session.[130]
  1. Article 20 of the Constitution, according to which any ratified Convention must be communicated by the Director-General of the ILO to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for registration, in accordance with Article 102 of the United Nations Charter, was included in the 1946 Constitution in recognition of the importance of including Conventions in the general register of treaties maintained by the United Nations. It was felt, however, that registration of a Convention would be incomplete unless any subsequent act affecting its application - such as ratifications, denunciations and declarations - was also registered by the Secretary-General. Article E of the final provisions thus provides for the Director-General to communicate to the Secretary-General, for the purpose of registration, full particulars concerning ratifications and denunciations that have been registered. The procedure for depositing and registering ILO Conventions with the United Nations was confirmed in a Memorandum of Agreement signed by the two organizations in 1949.[131]
  1. In practice, the Director-General in his communications to the United Nations indicates the cases in which ratification entails automatic denunciation of another Convention, although such a denunciation does not result, in the wording of Article E, from an “act of denunciation” or “in accordance with the provisions of the preceding Articles”. Given that communication of that information is nevertheless required;[132] it might be possible to adapt the wording of Article E to reflect that practice.
[128] ILO: Record of proceedings, ILC, 29th Session, Montreal, 1946, Annex VI, pp. 385-386.
[129] In the case of Conventions adopted since that date, these amendments were effected by C80.
[130] Doc. GB.184/11/18 (1971), paras. 27-34, and doc. GB.184/205 (1971), Para. 56.
[131] Memorandum of Agreement concerning the procedure to be followed for the deposit and registration with the United Nations of international labour Conventions and certain other instruments adopted by the International Labour Conference, signed on 17 Feb. 1949, OB, Vol. XXXII, 1949, No. 1, pp. 414-415. The Memorandum refers to the regulations to give effect to article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (resolution 97(I) of 14 Dec. 1946, as modified by resolutions 364 B(IV) of 1 Dec. 1949, 482 (V) of 12 Dec. 1950 and 33/141A of 18 Dec. 1978).
[132] Article 2 of the regulations mentioned in the previous note provides that “when a treaty or international agreement has been registered with the secretariat [of the United Nations], a certified statement regarding any subsequent action which effects a change in the parties thereto, or the terms, scope or application thereof, shall also be registered with the secretariat”.