Observation on submission to competent authorities (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

United Arab Emirates

Failure to submit. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in response to its previous comments, indicating that the ratification of international conventions and treaties in the United Arab Emirates is subject to national regulations requiring the examination by all authorities in the State regarding the identification of the State’s obligations arising from ratification, for their submission to the competent authority. The Government indicates that the purpose of this examination is to enable the Government to decide whether or not to ratify an instrument. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the 11 instruments adopted by the Conference at its 94th, 99th, 100th, 101st, 103rd, 104th, 106th and 108th Sessions were submitted. It nevertheless notes that there is no indication in the Government’s communication of the competent authorities to which the instruments were submitted, or of the dates of such submission. It recalls once more that the constitutional obligation of submission is of the highest importance and is a fundamental element of the standards system of the ILO.

The Committee recalls that, when a State decides to become a Member of the Organization it accepts to fulfil the obligations established in the Constitution, such as the obligation to submit to the competent authorities the instruments adopted at the Conference. It emphasizes, however, that the obligation of ILO Member States to submit the instruments adopted by the Conference to the competent authorities does not imply any obligation to propose the ratification or application of the instruments in question, or to take any other specific action. Pursuant to article 19 of the ILO Constitution, Member States have complete freedom as to the nature of the proposals to be made, if any, when submitting the instruments. Submission does not imply any obligation to propose the ratification of a Convention or Protocol, nor does it imply the application of one or more of the principles set out in an unratified Convention or a Recommendation. In this respect, the Committee once again draws the attention of the Government to the 2005 Memorandum concerning the obligation to submit Conventions and Recommendations to the competent authorities, adopted by the Governing Body in 2005, particularly Part I on the aims and objectives of submission.

The Committee understands that, in the United Arab Emirates, instruments adopted by the Conference are submitted to the Council of Ministers as the authority competent to ratify a Convention or Protocol, as well as to decide on any other action which it may deem appropriate in respect of the instruments adopted by the Conference (2005 Memorandum, Part I(b)). The Committee nevertheless recalls that, for the purposes of article 19 of the ILO Constitution, discussion in a deliberative assembly – or at a minimum, transmission to a deliberative assembly of information concerning the instruments adopted by the International Labour Conference – is an essential component of the constitutional obligation to submit, as indicated in the 2005 Memorandum (2005 Memorandum, Part I(c) and Part II(c)). This obligation is applicable even in cases where legislative power is vested in the executive by virtue of the Constitution of the Member State. The objective of submission is twofold: (1) to encourage ratification or application of instruments adopted by the Conference through submission to the competent authority empowered to consider ratification; and (2) to bring the instruments adopted by the Conference to the knowledge of the public through their submission to a parliamentary or deliberative body. Given the importance of the latter objective, the Committee has noted that, even in the absence of a parliamentary body, informing a consultative body makes it possible to carry out a full examination of the instruments, ensuring that they are widely disseminated among the public, which is one of the purposes of the obligation of submission (2005 Memorandum, Part II(d)).

The Committee therefore once again expresses the hope that the Government will take urgent measures to further examine this matter in order to ensure full compliance with this twofold obligation to submit, established in article 19 of the ILO Constitution, and that it will soon be in a position to provide information on the submission to a deliberative assembly, such as the Federal National Council (Majlis Watani Ittihadi), of the 11 instruments adopted by the Conference at its 94th, 99th, 100th, 101st, 103rd, 104th, 106th and 108th Sessions (2006, 2010–19).