| GB.268/LILS/2
268th Session Geneva, March 1997 |
| Committee on Legal Issues and International Labour Standards | LILS |
SECOND ITEM ON THE AGENDA
Proposed amendment to Article 32, paragraph 2
of the Conference Standing Orders concerning the
effect on the right to vote of late payments under arrangements for the consolidation of arrears
1. At its 267th Session, the Governing Body approved the proposal that the Office submit to the Committee a paper on the possible amendment of Article 32, paragraph 2 of the Standing Orders of the Conference, concerning the period of validity of a decision to permit a Member in arrears of its contributions to vote. According to that paragraph, any decision by the Conference permitting a Member to vote shall be valid as long as that Member pays both its current contributions and the instalments on its consolidated arrears "during the year in respect of which they are due".(1)
2. In accordance with Article 13, paragraph 4, of the Constitution, as implemented by Article 31, paragraph 5, of the Standing Orders of the Conference, Members that have lost the right to vote due to arrears in the payment of their contributions are permitted to vote if they have concluded a consolidation arrangement, approved by the Conference, under which the arrears are repayable in annual instalments. Article 32, paragraph 2, referred to above, was added to the Standing Orders in 1979(2) in order to avoid having annually to repeat the procedure for the restoration of the right to vote to the Member concerned for so long as it was adhering to the arrangement. However, in recent years there have been cases where the restoration procedure still had to be followed even though the Member had paid its annual contributions and its instalment as required by the arrangement, but its payments had arrived after the end of the year to which they related. Because of the words "during the year...." at the end of Article 32, paragraph 2, the result has been that the Member lost the right to vote.
3. In accordance with Article 31 of the Standing Orders of the Conference, the procedure involved in the restoration of the right to vote is time-consuming: the matter must first be referred to the Finance Committee of Government Representatives (paragraph 1), whose recommendation must then be submitted to a plenary sitting of the Conference (paragraph 3), which must hold a record vote on the matter (Article 19, paragraph 5 of the Standing Orders of the Conference). In one recent case the Conference held a record vote in plenary sitting, while in another the requirement for such a vote was suspended under the procedure set out in Article 76 of the Standing Orders. It hence appears to be a foregone conclusion that the Conference will decide to restore the right to vote to a Member which is up to date with respect to its financial obligations, and the procedure has taken up a disproportionate amount of the Conference's already limited time.
4. The Conference might therefore consider it preferable to relax its rules slightly so as to prevent a definitive loss of the right to vote if payment is made by the first day of the annual session of the Conference. Any voting before that time would, of course, still be subject to the condition (pursuant to Article 31, paragraph 5, mentioned above) that all financial obligations had been met.
5. The Committee may accordingly wish to propose that the Governing Body recommend that the International Labour Conference amend Article 32, paragraph 2 of its Standing Orders, as follows:(3)
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 of this article, after the Conference has approved an arrangement under which the arrears of a Member are consolidated and are payable in annual instalments over a period of years, [any decision by the Conference permitting that Member to vote shall be valid as long as the Member concerned pays both its current contributions and the instalments on its consolidated arrears during the year in respect of which they are due] the Member shall be permitted to vote provided that, at the time of the vote concerned, the Member has fully paid all instalments under the arrangement, as well as all financial contributions under Article 13 of the Constitution, that were due before the end of the previous year. However, if any part of the said amounts is still outstanding by the close of the annual session of the Conference in the current year, the permission to vote shall lapse.
Geneva, 5 February 1997.
Point for decision: Paragraph 5.
1 Article 32 of the Standing Orders of the Conference provides as follows:
1. Any decision by the Conference permitting a Member which is in arrears in the payment of its contributions to vote shall be valid for the session of the Conference at which the decision is taken. Any such decision shall be operative in regard to the Governing Body and committees until the opening of the general session of the Conference next following that at which it was taken.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 of this article, after the Conference has approved an arrangement under which the arrears of a Member are consolidated and are payable in annual instalments over a period of years, any decision by the Conference permitting that Member to vote shall be valid as long as the Member concerned pays both its current contributions and the instalments on its consolidated arrears during the year in respect of which they are due.
2 See International Labour Conference, 65th Session, 1979, Record of Proceedings, p. 24/1.
3 Proposed additions underlined; proposed deletions in square brackets.