ICJ announces 31 written declarations regarding the right to strike under the International Labor Organization convention – JURIST

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) announced in a press release on Tuesday that 31 written declarations have been filed regarding the right to strike under Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize (1948). ).

These written statements follow the request of the Governing Body of the International Labor Organization (ILO) for an urgent advisory opinion from the ICJ on whether the right to strike is protected by the convention. Responses include allowing the United States, Brazil and the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States to participate in the discussions.

The debate over whether the right to strike is included in the convention without any express provision addressing this right has been a recurring issue for several years. As the ILO pointed out in its file at the ICJ, the controversy over interpretation led in 2012 to preventing the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations from exercising its supervisory functions. for the first time as employer groups questioned the commission’s interpretation.

The ILO describes the dispute as being on the one hand the absence of any provision which would enshrine the right to strike and that the preparatory work of the convention confirms the intention of the drafters not to include the right to strike in its scope of ‘application. This interpretation is particularly supported by employer groups. On the other hand, the preamble of the ILO Constitution refers to fair working conditions and the recognition of the principle of freedom of association. This interpretation is particularly supported by trade union groups and includes an interpretation that allows ILO bodies to occasionally exercise interpretive functions.

The ILO’s request for an advisory opinion states that the body is “aware that there is serious and persistent disagreement”, as it is only the second time that the ILO has requested an advisory opinion on an international convention of work and the first time she approached the ICJ. .

The ICJ, by order, set September 16, 2024 as the deadline within which States and organizations having submitted written declarations may submit written comments on other written declarations.