1. About the ILO
2. Topics
3. Regions
4. Meetings and events
5. Publications
6. Research
7. Labour standards
8. Statistics and databases

 FOURTH ITEM ON THE AGENDA

Other legal questions

Proposed amendment of the Standing Orders of the
Governing Body concerning the publication of documents
in advance of Governing Body sessions

1. At its 267th Session (November 1996), the Officers of the Governing Body decided to make Governing Body documents available on the Internet, with the exception of documents marked "confidential". In advance of sessions the documents were to be accessible only to members of the Governing Body, by means of a password. After the sessions they could be made publicly available (again, with the exception of those marked "confidential"). This has been the practice since then.

2. The Officers of the Governing Body also decided that the use of the password system would be reviewed after it had been in operation for one year, at which time it would decide whether it was justifiable to continue with it and whether it would be preferable to make the documents publicly available in advance of the sessions.

3. Experience gained during the last year of use of the password system has shown that there are many practical problems and inconveniences in operating the system. The task of managing a web site involving password access is quite time-consuming and complicated. A considerable amount of duplication of effort is involved, quite apart from the technical difficulties surrounding its maintenance. The password also imposes delays in users' access to the site, which can be considerable if they are some distance from Geneva. The Office has also noted that the password system creates problems for Governing Body members, in particular Government members, where for example different departments deal with different committees and issues: the password is mislaid, staff changes occur, or the different government departments are in different physical locations.

4. The Office has also received repeated requests from certain governments which are not members of the Governing Body, and from missions in Geneva, for access to the Internet site in advance of the Governing Body session. In a specific case, the government stated that although it was not a member of the Governing Body, it maintained an active interest in developments and regularly participated in informal Government group meetings prior to the Governing Body sessions. It felt that any interested member State of the Organization should have unrestricted access to Governing Body documents. Interest in such access has also been expressed by employers' and workers' organizations as well as by institutions, universities and individuals with an interest in labour matters.

5. The restriction so far applied is not inherent to the new technology, but derives from the Standing Orders of the Governing Body, article 14, paragraph 5 of which provides as follows (italics added):

5. Documents prepared by the International Labour Office and dealing with the items on the agenda of the Governing Body shall be circulated to members of the Governing Body before the opening of each session. They shall not be made public until the question with which they deal has been discussed by the Governing Body. The documents relating to private sittings shall be confidential and shall not be made public. Documents marked "confidential" by their author in communicating them to the Office or by the Office in communicating them to the members of the Governing Body shall not be circulated to the Press. The Director-General shall, however, have authority to circulate to the Press other documents prepared for the Governing Body. In communicating these documents to the Press the Director-General shall fix a date before which they should not be published or utilized. In fixing this date the Director-General shall endeavour to secure, as far as may be practicable, that the publication of such documents does not take place before members of the Governing Body have received them.

6. The above provision limits the circulation of documents relating to private sittings and documents marked "confidential". The Office does not intend to propose any departure from this rule. The question is whether documents other than those relating to private sittings or marked "confidential", should not be made available more generally in advance of Governing Body sessions, on the understanding that the Director-General could decide to delay the advance publication of a document in certain cases.

7. The main consideration that seems to have been at the origin of the restriction on advance publication was that it was undesirable that the questions with which the Governing Body dealt should be commented upon before it had discussed them. At the same time it was recognized that it was impossible to prevent the Press from commenting on questions that were of public interest and that any restrictions of such a nature which could be imposed would tend to curtail publicity concerning the activities of the Organization.⁽¹⁾  The restriction does not appear to have been intended to prevent constituents in member States from having access to these documents. In present-day circumstances, the risk of prejudicial comments before the Governing Body's discussions appears to be remote.

8. If the Governing Body were to see no major inconvenience with the proposal to make the documents more readily available, an amendment to article 14, paragraph 5 of its Standing Orders, would be necessary. The second sentence (in italics above) in that paragraph could be reworded as follows:

They may be made public unless the Director-General decides to make them available only after the question with which they deal has been discussed by the Governing Body and subject to any relevant directions by the latter.

9. The last three sentences of paragraph 5 could be deleted, since most documents would now be made publicly available. The text has been reorganized in the interest of clarity to better reflect the changes made without affecting the substance. The last two sentences deal with documents which are confidential and are not to be made public or circulated to the Press. The changes proposed have been highlighted.

10. The new text would thus read as follows:

5. Documents prepared by the International Labour Office and dealing with the items on the agenda of the Governing Body shall be circulated to members of the Governing Body before the opening of each session. They may be made public unless the Director-General decides to make them available only after the question with which they deal has been discussed by the Governing Body and subject to any relevant directions by the latter. The Director-General shall, however, have authority to circulate to the Press those documents which he had decided not to make available prior to discussion by the Governing Body, subject to an embargo date before which they should not be published or utilized. In fixing this date the Director-General shall endeavour to secure, as far as may be practicable, that the publication of such documents does not take place before members of the Governing Body have received them. Documents marked "confidential" by their author in communicating them to the Office or by the Office in communicating them to the members of the Governing Body shall not be made public or circulated to the Press. The documents relating to private sittings shall be confidential and shall neither be made public nor circulated to the Press.

11. In the light of the above, the Committee may wish to recommend to the Governing Body that it amend article 14, paragraph 5, of its Standing Orders in the terms set out in paragraph 10 above.

Geneva, 12 March 1998.

Point for decision: Paragraph 11.