Standing Orders of the International Labour Conference

1. The Conference consists of all the delegates duly appointed by the Members of the International Labour Organisation.

2. Each delegate may be accompanied by advisers who shall not exceed two in number for each item on the agenda of the meeting.

3. (1) In accordance with article 3 of the Constitution of the Organisation a delegate may by notice in writing addressed to the President appoint one of his advisers to act as his substitute.

1. The sittings of the Conference shall be public except in cases in which it has been expressly decided to the contrary.

2. Seats in the Conference hall shall be assigned to the delegates and their advisers by the Secretary-General.

3. Apart from delegates and advisers the only persons permitted to enter the body of the hall shall be:

(a) ministers whose departments deal with the questions discussed by the Conference and who are not delegates or advisers;

(b) representatives of official international organisations which have been invited by the Conference or the Governing Body to be represented at the Conference;

(d) representatives of a state or province of a federal State who have been appointed to accompany a delegation by the Government of a Member of the Organisation;

(e) persons appointed as observers by a State invited to attend the Conference;

(f) the Director-General of the International Labour Office and the officials of the Secretariat of the Conference;

(I) persons appointed by Members of the Organisation to occupy advisers' posts which may fall vacant in their delegations;

(j) representatives of non-governmental international organisations with which it has been decided to establish consultative relationships and with which standing arrangements for such representation have been made and representatives of other non-governmental international organisations which have been invited by the Governing Body to be represented at the Conference;

(k) representatives of liberation movements recognised by the Organisation of African Unity or the League of Arab States which have been invited by the Conference or the Governing Body to be represented at the Conference.

4. Requests from non-governmental international organizations for an invitation to be represented at the Conference shall be made in writing to the Director-General of the International Labour Office and shall reach him at least one month before the opening of the session of the Governing Body preceding the session of the Conference. Such requests shall be referred to the Governing Body for decision in accordance with criteria established by the Governing Body.

5. Arrangements shall be made by the Secretary-General for the accommodation at public sittings of distinguished strangers and the press.

1. The Conference shall elect as Officers a President and three Vice-Presidents, who shall all be of different nationalities and any of whom may be women.

2. The Government, Employers' and Workers' groups shall each nominate one of their number for election by the Conference as Vice-President. Const. 17, 1

1. The Conference shall appoint a Selection Committee consisting of twenty-eight members nominated by the Government group, fourteen members nominated by the Employers' group and fourteen members nominated by the Workers' group. In none of these categories shall a country have more than one member.

2. It shall be the duty of the Selection Committee to arrange the programme of the Conference, to fix the time and agenda for the plenary sittings, to act on behalf of the Conference with respect to decisions on non-controversial questions of a routine nature and to report to the Conference on any other questions requiring a decision for the proper conduct of its business, in accordance with the Conference Standing Orders. Where appropriate, the Committee may delegate any of these functions to its Officers.

1. The Conference shall, on the nomination of the Selection Committee, appoint a Credentials Committee consisting of one Government delegate, one Employers' delegate and one Workers' delegate.

2. The Credentials Committee shall examine the credentials of delegates and their advisers, and any objection relating thereto, in accordance with the provisions of Section B of Part II. Within the limits laid down in the said Section B, the Committee may also consider any complaints of non-observance of paragraph 2(a) of article 13 of the Constitution.

1. The Conference shall appoint on the nomination of the Selection Committee a Conference Drafting Committee consisting of at least three persons who need not be either delegates or advisers.

2. The Committee Drafting Committee appointed by each committee under article 59(1) of these Standing Orders shall form part of the Conference Drafting Committee when any proposed Convention or Recommendation is submitted to the Conference by the committee concerned.

3. The Conference Drafting Committee shall have the functions entrusted to it by the rules concerning Convention and Recommendation procedure (Section E) and the rules concerning the procedure for the amendment of the Constitution of the Organisation (Section F) and shall, in general, be responsible for expressing in the form of Conventions and Recommendations the decisions adopted by the Conference and for ensuring agreement between the English and French versions of the texts of all formal instruments submitted to the Conference for adoption.

(a) the measures taken by Members to give effect to the provisions of Conventions to which they are parties and the information furnished by Members concerning the results of inspections;

(b) the information and reports concerning Conventions and Recommendations communicated by Members in accordance with article 19 of the Constitution, except for information requested under paragraph 5 (e) of that article where the Governing Body has decided upon a different procedure for its consideration;

(c) the measures taken by Members in accordance with article 35 of the Constitution.

1. The Conference shall, as soon as possible, appoint a Finance Committee consisting of one Government delegate from each Member of the Organisation represented at the Conference.

(a) the arrangements for the approval, allocation and collection of the budget of the Organisation, including:

(b) the audited financial statements of the Organisation, together with the Auditor's report thereon;

(c) any request or proposal that the Conference should permit a Member which is in arrears in the payment of its contribution to vote in accordance with article 13, paragraph 4, of the Constitution;

4. The Director-General, accompanied by a tripartite delegation from the Governing Body, shall be entitled to attend the meetings of the Committee.

5. The decisions of the Committee shall be taken by a two-thirds majority of the votes cast by the members of the Committee present at the meeting.

The Conference may appoint a committee to consider and report on any matter. Const. 17, 1

The following rules shall apply to all committees appointed by the Conference with the exception of the Selection Committee, the Credentials Committee, the Finance Committee of Government Representatives and the Drafting Committee:

(a) once the various committees have been established and their initial membership appointed by the Conference, it shall be for the groups to determine subsequent changes in the composition of such committees;

(b) if a delegate has not been nominated by his group to sit on any committee, he may bring the matter to the notice of the Selection Committee which shall have power to place him on one or more committees, enlarging the number of members of such committee or committees accordingly. Any such request shall be made to the Chairman of the Selection Committee;

(c) in accordance with article 18 of the Constitution of the Organisation, the Conference may add to any committee to which these rules apply technical experts who shall have the right to take part in the discussions but not to vote.

The work of the committees of the Conference, with the exception of the Credentials Committee and the Drafting Committee, shall be governed by the Standing Orders for the committees of the Conference set forth in Section H of Part II.

Procedure for the adoption, abrogation or withdrawal of Conventions and Recommendations,
and the consideration of proposed amendments to the Constitution

1. The procedure for the consideration of proposed Conventions and Recommendations, as well as the procedure applicable to the abrogation⁽³⁾ of a Convention in force or to the withdrawal of a Convention that is not in force or of a Recommendation, shall be governed by the rules concerning Convention and Recommendation procedure set forth in Section E of Part II.

2. The procedure for the consideration of proposed amendments to the Constitution of the Organisation shall be governed by the rules concerning the procedure for the amendment of the Constitution of the Organisation set forth in Section F of Part II.

1. At its session preceding the beginning of each biennial financial period, the Conference shall, without prejudice to the provisions of article 13 of the Constitution and of the Financial Regulations concerning the approval of the budget and the allocation of expenses amongst Members, and prior to the approval of the budget by the Finance Committee of Government Representatives and its adoption by the Conference, examine the Programme and Budget of the ensuing financial period.

2. For this purpose, the Conference may as appropriate appoint a tripartite committee to report to it.

Procedure for the consideration of items placed on the agenda for general discussion

1. When a question has been placed on the agenda for general discussion, the International Labour Office shall communicate a report upon the question to the governments, so as to reach them not less than two months before the opening of the session of the Conference at which the question is to be discussed.

1. During the session at the times fixed by the Selection Committee, the Conference shall discuss the report of the Chairman of the Governing Body on its work and the Report of the Director-General of the International Labour Office on the subjects specified in paragraph 2 below.

2. At each session of the Conference in the first year of a biennial financial period, the Director-General shall report on programme implementation and the activities of the Organisation during the preceding financial period, together with proposals for advance planning as well as information on the steps taken by the Governing Body and the Director-General to give effect to the decisions of the Conference at its previous sessions and the results achieved. At each session preceding the beginning of a financial period, the said report shall be devoted to a social policy theme of current interest chosen by the Director-General, without prejudice to other questions on which the Conference may have requested the Director-General to report to it on an annual basis.

3. One delegate representing the Government, one delegate representing the Employers and one representing the Workers may participate in the discussion in respect of each member State, provided that a visiting minister may speak in addition to the Government delegate. No speaker may intervene in the discussion more than once.

1. The President shall declare the opening and close of the sittings. Before proceeding to the agenda, he shall bring before the Conference any communication which may concern it.

2. He shall direct the debates, maintain order, ensure the observance of the Standing Orders by such means as circumstances may demand, accord or withdraw the right to address the Conference, put questions to the vote and announce the result of the vote.

3. The President shall not take part in the debates and shall not vote. If he is himself a delegate he may appoint a substitute in accordance with the provisions of article 1, paragraph 3.

4. In the absence of the President during a sitting or any part thereof one of the Vice-Presidents, taken in rotation, shall preside.

5. In the absence of the President during a sitting or any part thereof one of the Vice-Presidents, taken in rotation, shall preside.

1. No delegate shall address the Conference without having asked and obtained permission of the President.

2. Speakers shall be called upon in the order in which they have signified their desire to speak.

3. No delegate shall speak more than once upon the same motion, resolution or amendment, without the special permission of the Conference, provided that the mover of a motion, resolution or amendment shall have the right to speak twice unless the closure has been adopted in accordance with article 16.

4. The President may require a speaker to resume his seat if his remarks are not relevant to the subject under discussion.

5. A delegate may at any time rise to a point of order, which shall be decided forthwith by the President.

6. Except with the special consent of the Conference, no speech, whether by a delegate, a visiting minister, an observer or a representative of an international organization, shall exceed ten minutes exclusive of the time for translation, and no speech concerning the reports of the Chairperson of the Governing Body and the Director-General referred to in article 12, paragraphs 1 and 2, shall exceed five minutes exclusive of the time for translation. The President may, after consultation with the Vice-Presidents, submit to the Conference for decision without debate a proposal to reduce the time limit for speeches on a specific topic before the opening of the discussion thereof.

8. Ministers whose departments deal with the questions discussed by the Conference and who are not delegates or advisers, members of the Governing Body who are not delegates or advisers at the Conference, and the Director-General of the International Labour Office or his representative may address the Conference if invited to do so by the President.

9. Representatives of official international organisations which have been invited to be represented at the Conference may participate, without vote, in the discussions.

10. The President may, in agreement with the Vice-Presidents, permit representatives of non-governmental international organisations with which the International Labour Organisation has established consultative relationships and with which standing arrangements for representation at the Conference have been made, and representatives of other non-governmental international organisations which have been invited to be represented at the Conference, to make or circulate statements for the information of the Conference on questions which are being considered by the Conference other than administrative and financial questions. If agreement cannot be reached the matter shall be referred to the meeting for decision without discussion.

11. Persons appointed as observers by a State invited to attend the Conference may, with the permission of the President, address the Conference during the general discussions.

12. Representatives of liberation movements which have been invited to attend the Conference may, with the permission of the President, address the Conference during the discussion of the reports of the Governing Body and of the Director-General.

1. No motion, resolution or amendment shall be discussed unless it has been seconded.

2. (1) Motions as to procedure may be moved verbally and without previous notice. They may be moved at any time except after the President has called upon a speaker and before the speaker has terminated his speech.

3. All resolutions and amendments other than motions as to procedure must be submitted in writing in one of the official languages or in Spanish.

4. (1) No resolution relating to an item on the agenda shall, unless it be a motion as to procedure, be moved at any sitting of the Conference unless a copy has been handed in to the Secretariat of the Conference at least two days previously.

5. Resolutions relating to matters not included in the agenda of the Conference shall be subject, in addition to the applicable provisions of this article, to the special rules set forth in article 17.

6. Amendments to a resolution may be moved without previous notice if a copy of the text of the amendment is handed in to the Secretariat of the Conference before the amendment is moved.

8. (1) Any amendment may be withdrawn by the person who moved it unless an amendment to it is under discussion or has been adopted.

9. Any member may at any time draw attention to the fact that the Standing Orders are not being observed, and the President shall give an immediate ruling on any question so raised.

1. Any delegate may move the closure of the discussion either on a particular resolution or amendment or on the general question.

2. The President shall put a motion for the closure of the discussion if it is supported by at least 30 delegates. Before putting it to the vote, however, he shall call out the names of those delegates who had signified their wish to speak before the closure had been moved.

3. If application is made for permission to speak against the closure, it shall be accorded subject to the condition that no speaker shall be allowed to speak for more than five minutes.

4. The President shall permit each group which makes a request to that effect through its Chairman to be heard on the question under discussion through one speaker appointed by the group, whether there has been a previous speaker or not representing the group.

5. Subject to the foregoing paragraphs no one shall be allowed to speak on a question after the closure has been voted.

1. (1) Subject to paragraph 2 below, no resolution relating to a matter not included in an item placed on the agenda by the Conference or the Governing Body shall be moved at the session of the Conference preceding the beginning of a biennial financial period. Such resolutions may be moved at other sessions of the Conference provided that a copy of the resolution has been deposited with the Director-General of the International Labour Office at least 15 days before the opening of the session of the Conference, by a delegate to the Conference.

2. The President may, with the approval of the three Vice-Presidents, permit a resolution relating to a matter not included in an item placed on the agenda by the Conference or the Governing Body to be moved, although it would not be otherwise receivable under paragraph 1(1) , if it relates either to urgent matters or to matters of an entirely formal nature. If permission is given, the Officers shall also make a recommendation to the Conference as to the manner in which the said resolution is to be considered before submission to the Conference.

3. Subject to paragraph 2 above, all resolutions relating to matters not included in an item placed on the agenda by the Conference or the Governing Body shall be referred by the Conference for report to a Resolutions Committee unless the Conference, on the recommendation of the Selection Committee, decides that a particular resolution relates to a matter for which another committee is competent and refers it to that other committee.

4. The Resolutions Committee shall consider in respect of each resolution whether it satisfies the conditions of receivability set forth in paragraph 1.

5. The Resolutions Committee shall determine the order in which resolutions which have been declared receivable shall be examined, as follows:

(a) After having given the author, or one of the authors, of each resolution the possibility of moving it in a speech which shall not exceed ten minutes, the Committee shall, without discussion, determine by ballot the first five resolutions to be considered, in the following manner:

(b) The Committee shall, at the beginning of its proceedings, set up a Working Party composed of three Government members, three Employers' members and three Workers' members to make recommendations as to the order in which the resolutions which were not included in the first five as a result of the procedure set forth in subparagraph (a) should be examined.

6. The Resolutions Committee shall begin its work as soon as possible after the opening of the session of the Conference, in order to enable it to complete its agenda, and shall terminate its work not later than at 6 p.m. on the last Saturday of the session. If, nevertheless, any resolution has not been considered by the Committee by the date on which it terminates its work, the Conference shall not discuss or act upon that resolution.

7. (1) If members of the Resolutions Committee having not less than one-quarter of the voting power of the Committee move that the Committee should take the view that a resolution is not within the competence of the Conference, or that its adoption is inexpedient, this preliminary question shall be determined by the Committee after hearing the author, or, where there are several, one of the authors of the resolution, not more than one speaker for and against the motion from each group, and the reply of the author or one of the authors.

8. The Resolutions Committee may, after hearing the author or authors of a resolution, amend it in form or substance in such manner as it may consider desirable.

9. It shall be the special duty of the Resolutions Committee to distinguish, by appropriate drafting, resolutions the adoption of which by the Conference would involve exact legal consequences from resolutions intended for consideration by the Governing Body, governments or any other body, but not creating any legal obligation.

Prior consultation in respect of proposals for new activities relating to matters
of direct concern to the United Nations or other specialised agencies

1. Where a proposal submitted to the Conference involves new activities to be undertaken by the International Labour Organisation relating to matters which are of direct concern to the United Nations or one or more specialised agencies other than the International Labour Organisation, the Director-General shall enter into consultation with the organisations concerned and report to the Conference on the means of achieving coordinated use of the resources of the respective organisations. Where a proposal put forward in the course of a meeting for new activities to be undertaken by the International Labour Organisation relates to matters which are of direct concern to the United Nations or one or more specialised agencies other than the International Labour Organisation, the Director-General shall, after such consultation with the representatives of the other organisation or organisations concerned attending the meeting as may be possible, draw the attention of the meeting to these implications of the proposal.

2. Before deciding on proposals referred to in the preceding paragraph, the Conference shall satisfy itself that adequate consultations have taken place with the organisations concerned.

1. Except as provided in paragraph 2 of the present article, no proposals for new activities to be undertaken by the International Labour Organisation shall be placed before a session of the Conference unless such proposal has been deposited with the Director-General of the International Labour Office at least six weeks before the opening of the Conference.

(a) any proposal that a matter should be referred to the Governing Body or the Joint Maritime Commission for examination with a view to deciding whether action by the International Labour Organisation in regard to the matter is desirable, or

1. Any motion or resolution involving expenditure shall in the first instance, or in the case of resolutions referred to the Resolutions Committee as soon as that Committee is satisfied that the resolution is receivable and within the competence of the Conference, be referred to the Governing Body which, after consultation of its Programme, Financial and Administrative Committee, shall communicate its opinion to the Conference.

2. The opinion of the Governing Body shall be circulated to the delegates at least 24 hours before the motion or resolution is discussed by the Conference.

3. The Governing Body and the Programme, Financial and Administrative Committee may delegate the authority to carry out their responsibilities under this article to their officers.

1. The Conference shall vote by a show of hands, by a record vote or by secret ballot.

3. Votes by a show of hands shall be counted by the Secretariat and the result announced by the President.

4. In case of doubt as to the result, the President may cause a record vote to be taken.

5. A record vote shall be taken in all cases in which a majority of two-thirds of the votes is required by the Constitution of the Organisation, except when the Conference is voting on the inclusion in the agenda of the following session of an item already on the agenda of the session at which the decision is taken.

6. A record vote shall be taken on any question if the request is made by show of hands of not less than 90 delegates present at the sitting, or by the Chairman of a group, or by his representative duly appointed by notice in writing addressed to the President, whether such a request be made before or immediately after the vote by show of hands.

7. Record votes shall be taken by calling upon each delegation voting in turn in the French alphabetical order of the names of the Members of the International Labour Organisation. A further and final call shall immediately be made, in the same alphabetical order, of delegates who did not respond to the first call.

8. The vote shall be recorded by the Secretariat and announced by the President.

9. The names of the delegates voting in a record vote shall be inserted in the verbatim report of the sitting.

11. A vote by secret ballot shall also be taken on any question not covered by paragraph 5, if the request is made by show of hands of not less than 90 delegates present at the sitting or by the Chairman of a group acting on behalf of his group.

12. Votes by secret ballot shall be counted by the Secretariat under the direction of three returning officers nominated respectively by the Government, Employers' and Workers' groups.

13. If, on the same question, requests are made both for a record vote in pursuance of paragraph 6 of this article and for a vote by secret ballot in pursuance of paragraph 11 of this article, the vote shall be taken by secret ballot if the Conference so decides by a simple majority vote by secret ballot.

14. The President shall permit any delegate who so requests to explain his vote briefly immediately after the voting except where the vote is taken by secret ballot. The President may limit the time allowed for such explanations.

15. Unless the Officers otherwise decide in special circumstances, the Conference shall vote by electronic means.

16. When the Conference votes by electronic means, paragraphs 7 and 12 above shall not apply. In the case of a vote by show of hands, the individual votes cast by the delegates shall be accessible during the sitting at which the vote is taken, but only the final result of the vote shall be announced and recorded. In the case of a record vote, the individual votes cast by the delegates shall be recorded and published and the final result of the vote shall be announced and recorded. In the case of a vote by secret ballot, the individual votes cast by the delegates shall in no case be recorded or accessible and only the final result of the vote shall be announced and recorded.

1. (1) In accordance with article 17 of the Constitution of the Organisation a vote is not valid if the number of votes cast for and against is less than half the number of delegates attending the Conference and entitled to vote.

2. (1) Where a quorum has not been obtained in a vote by a show of hands, the President may immediately take a record vote.

3. (1) Where a quorum has not been obtained in a vote by a show of hands or in a record vote, the President may take a record vote on the same question at one of the two next following sittings.

In order to determine the majorities by record vote all votes cast, for and against, shall be counted, so that, in order to be adopted, it is necessary that the proposal submitted to the Conference shall obtain more than one-half or two-thirds of the votes cast in accordance with the requirements of the Constitution, or of the Convention or other instrument conferring the powers which the Conference is exercising, or of the financial and budgetary arrangements adopted in virtue of article 13 of the Constitution. Const. 17, 2; 19, 1, 2

1. The Director-General of the International Labour Office shall be the Secretary-General of the Conference and shall be responsible for the appointment and control of the Secretariat.

(a) the receiving, printing, circulating and translation of documents, reports and resolutions:

(f) generally, for all other work which the Conference may think fit to entrust to it. Const. 10, 3

1. A verbatim report shall be printed at the conclusion of each sitting by the Secretariat. There shall be included in the report any texts adopted and the results of any votes taken.

2. Any delegate may demand the right to revise any part of the report containing a speech which he has made. Speeches or parts of speeches that have not been delivered during the sitting shall not be published in the report.

3. In order that any proposed corrections may be published, they should be communicated to the Secretariat, in writing, not later than ten days after the close of the Conference.

4. The verbatim reports shall be signed by the President of the Conference and the Secretary-General.

1. The French and English languages shall be the official languages of the Conference.

2. Speeches made in French shall be summarised in English, and vice versa, by an interpreter belonging to the Secretariat of the Conference.

3. Speeches made in Spanish shall be summarised by the official interpreters, who shall also give a summary in Spanish of speeches made in English or French.

4. A delegate may speak in another non-official language, but his delegation must provide for a summarised translation of his speech into one of the two official languages by an interpreter attached to the delegation, unless an interpreter of the Conference for the official languages can be placed at its disposal by the Secretariat of the Conference. This summarised translation shall then be rendered in the other official language by an interpreter belonging to the Secretariat.

5. The translation and circulation of documents shall be in the hands of the Secretariat and all such documents shall appear in English, French and Spanish.

1. The Conference shall be opened by the Chairman of the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, assisted by the other Officers of the Govern-ing Body. These provisional Officers shall continue to act until the President of the Conference has assumed office.

2. The first business of the Conference shall be the election of the President. The Conference shall then receive the nominations made by the groups and shall proceed to elect the three Vice-Presidents and to set up the various committees and appoint their members on the basis of proposals from the groups.

3. (1) In order to facilitate the choice of Officers of the Conference who are all of different nationalities as required by article 3, paragraph 1, of the Standing Orders, the three groups share priority of nomination for the designation of Vice-Presidents of the Conference in the rotation indicated in the following table:

Session	1st priority Group	2nd priority Group

85th	Government	Employers'
86th	Employers'	Workers'
87th	Workers'	Government
88th	Gouvernemental	Employers'
89th	Employers'	Workers'
90th	Workers'	Government
and so forth.

4. In accordance with article 4, paragraph 1, of the Standing Orders, the Government group shall nominate 28 members for the Selection Committee and the Employers' and Workers' groups shall each nominate 14 members. In none of these groups shall any Member of the Organisation have more than one member.

5. At the opening of the discussion on the Report of the Director-General, the Chairman of the Governing Body shall report to the Conference on the work of the Governing Body during the preceding year.

1. The credentials of delegates and their advisers shall be deposited with the International Labour Office at least 15 days before the date fixed for the opening of the session of the Conference. Const. 3, 8, 9

2. A brief report upon these credentials, drawn up by the Chairman of the Governing Body, shall, with the credentials, be open to inspection by the delegates on the day before the opening of the session of the Conference and shall be published as an appendix to the record of the first sitting.

3. The Credentials Committee appointed by the Conference in pursuance of Article 5 of the Standing Orders of the Conference shall consider any objection concerning the nomination of any delegate or adviser which may have been lodged with the Secretary-General.

(a) if the objection is not lodged with the Secretary-General within 72 hours from 10 a.m. of the date of the publication in the Provisional Record of the name and function of the person to whose nomination objection is taken, provided that, where the name of the person is published for the first time in a revised list of the names and functions of delegates, the above time-limit shall be reduced to 48 hours;

(c) if the author of the objection is serving as adviser to the delegate to whose nomination objection is taken;

(d) if the objection is based upon facts or allegations which the Conference, by a debate and a decision referring to identical facts or allegations, has already discussed and recognised to be irrelevant or devoid of substance.

5. The procedure for the determination of whether an objection is receivable shall be as follows:

(a) the Credentials Committee shall consider in respect of each objection whether on any of the grounds set forth in paragraph 4 the objection is irreceivable;

(b) if the Committee reaches a unanimous conclusion concerning the receiv-ability of the objection, its decision shall be final;

(c) if the Credentials Committee does not reach a unanimous conclusion concerning the receivability of the objection, it shall refer the matter to the Conference which shall, on being furnished with a record of the Committee's discussions and with a report setting forth the opinion of the majority and minority of its members, decide without further discussion whether the objection is receivable.

6. In every case in which the objection is not declared irreceivable, the Credentials Committee shall consider whether the objection is well-founded and shall as a matter of urgency submit a report thereon to the Conference.

7. If the Credentials Committee or any member thereof submits a report advising that the Conference should refuse to admit any delegate or adviser, the President shall submit this proposal to the Conference for decision, and the Conference, if it deems that the delegate or adviser has not been nominated in conformity with the requirements of the Constitution, may, in accordance with paragraph 9 of article 3 thereof, refuse by two-thirds of the votes cast by the delegates present to admit the delegate or adviser. Delegates who are in favour of refusing to admit the delegate or adviser shall vote "Yes"; delegates who are opposed to refusing to admit the delegate or adviser shall vote "No".

8. Pending final decision of the question of his admission, any delegate or adviser to whose nomination objection has been taken shall have the same rights as other delegates and advisers.

9. The Credentials Committee may consider complaints that a Member has failed to comply with paragraph 2(a) of article 13 of the Constitution where:

(a) the Member is alleged to have failed to pay the travelling and subsistence expenses of one or more of the delegates that it has nominated in accordance with article 3, paragraph 1, of the Constitution;

(b) the complaint alleges a serious and manifest imbalance as between the number of Employer or Worker advisers whose expenses have been covered in the delegation concerned and the number of advisers appointed for the Government delegates.

10. A complaint referred to in paragraph 9 shall not be receivable in the following cases:

(a) if the complaint is not lodged with the Secretary-General of the Conference before 10 a.m. on the seventh day following the opening of the Conference and the Committee considers that there is insufficient time to deal with it properly;

(b) if the complaint is not lodged by an accredited delegate or adviser alleging non-payment of travel and subsistence expenses in the circumstances set out under (a) or (b) of paragraph 9 or by an organisation or person acting on his or her behalf.

11. The Credentials Committee shall, in its report, present to the Conference any conclusions that it has unanimously reached on each complaint considered by it.

1. The acceptance of membership of the International Labour Organisation in pursuance of paragraph 3 of article 1 of the Constitution of the Organisation by a Member of the United Nations shall take effect on receipt by the Director-General of the International Labour Office of a formal and unconditional acceptance of the obligations of the Constitution of the Organisation. Const. 1, 3

2. The Director-General shall inform the Members of the Organisation and the International Labour Conference of the acceptance of membership of the International Labour Organisation by a Member of the United Nations.

1. The admission of new Members to the International Labour Organisation by the General Conference, in accordance with article 1(4) of the Constitution of the Organisation, shall be governed by the provisions of the present Article. Const. 1, 4

2. Each application for admission made to the Conference shall be referred in the first instance to the Selection Committee.

3. Unless the Selection Committee is of the opinion that no immediate action should be taken on the application, it shall refer the application to a subcommittee for examination.

4. Before submitting its report to the Selection Committee the subcommittee may consult any representative accredited to the Conference by the applicant.

5. The Selection Committee, after considering the report of the subcommittee, shall report on the question to the Conference.

(a) a vote concurred in by two-thirds of the delegates attending the session, including two-thirds of the Government delegates present and voting, shall be necessary for the admission of a new Member by the Conference;

(b) the admission shall take effect on the communication to the Director- General of the International Labour Office by the Government of the new Member of its formal acceptance of the obligations of the Constitution of the Organisation. Const. 1, 4

7. The readmission of former Members by the General Conference of the International Labour Organisation shall be governed by the provisions of the preceding paragraphs of the present article. When the subcommittee provided for by paragraph 3 above has before it an application for readmission by a former Member which had ratified international labour Conventions before its withdrawal from the Organisation, the subcommittee shall state in its report whether the applicant recognises that the obligations resulting from those Conventions continue to be binding.

Disqualification from voting of Members which are in arrears
in the payment of their contributions to the Organisation

1. If the Director-General finds that the amount of the arrears due from a Member of the Organisation which is in arrears in the payment of its contribution to the Organisation will, in the event of no payment being received from the Member during the succeeding three months, increase so as to equal or exceed the amount of the contribution due from that Member for the two full years preceding the expiration of the said period of three months, he shall send to the Member in question a communication calling its attention to the terms of article 13, paragraph 4, of the Constitution.

2. When the amount of the arrears due to the International Labour Organisation from a Member which is in arrears in the payment of its contribution to the Organisation equals or exceeds the contribution due from that Member for the preceding two full years, the Director-General shall notify the Member in question of this fact and call its attention to the terms of article 13, paragraph 4, of the Constitution. Const. 13, 4

3. Contributions are due on 1 January of the year to which they relate, but the year in respect of which they are due shall be regarded as a period of grace and a contribution shall be regarded as being in arrears for the purpose of this article only if it has not been paid by 31 December of the year in respect of which it is due.

The notification provided for in paragraph 2 of article 29 shall be brought by the Director-General to the attention of the next sessions of the International Labour Conference, the Governing Body, and any other committee of the International Labour Organisation in which the question of the right to vote of the Member concerned may arise, and to the attention of the electoral colleges provided for in Articles 49 and 50 of the Standing Orders of the Conference.

1. Any request or proposal that the Conference should nevertheless permit a Member which is in arrears in the payment of its contributions to vote in accordance with article 13, paragraph 4, of the Constitution shall be referred in the first instance to the Finance Committee of the Conference, which shall report thereon as a matter of urgency.

2. Pending a decision on the request or proposal by the Conference, the Member shall not be entitled to vote.

3. The Finance Committee shall submit to the Conference a report giving its opinion on the request or proposal.

4. If the Finance Committee, having found that the failure to pay is due to conditions beyond the control of the Member, thinks fit to propose to the Conference that the Member should nevertheless be permitted to vote in accordance with article 13, paragraph 4, of the Constitution, it shall in its report:

(b) give an analysis of the financial relations between the Member and the Organisation during the preceding ten years; and

(c) indicate the measures which should be taken in order to settle the arrears.

5. Any decision which may be taken by the Conference to permit a Member which is in arrears in the payment of its contribution to vote notwithstanding such arrears may be made conditional upon the Member complying with any recommendations for settling the arrears which may be made by the Conference.

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, 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. For any Member which, at the close of the session of the Conference, has not fully paid all such instalments and contributions due before the end of the previous year, the permission to vote shall lapse.

When, as a result of the receipt by the Director-General of the International Labour Office of payments made by a Member, article 13, paragraph 4, of the Constitution ceases to be applicable to that Member:

(a) the Director-General shall notify the Member that its right to vote is no longer suspended;

(b) if the International Labour Conference, the Governing Body, the electoral colleges provided for in Articles 49 and 50 of the Standing Orders of the Conference, or any committee concerned, has received the notification provided for in article 30 of the present section, the Director-General shall inform it that the right to vote of the Member is no longer suspended.

1. When a proposal to place an item on the agenda of the Conference is discussed for the first time by the Governing Body, the Governing Body cannot, without the unanimous consent of the members present, take a decision until the following session.

2. When it is proposed to place on the agenda of the International Labour Conference an item which implies a knowledge of the laws in force in the various countries, the Office shall place before the Governing Body a concise statement of the existing laws and practice in the various countries relative to that item. This statement shall be submitted to the Governing Body before it takes its decision.

3. When considering the desirability of placing a question on the agenda of the International Labour Conference, the Governing Body may, if there are special circumstances which make this desirable, decide to refer the question to a preparatory technical conference with a view to such a conference making a report to the Governing Body before the question is placed on the agenda. The Governing Body may, in similar circumstances, decide to convene a preparatory technical conference when placing a question on the agenda of the Conference.

4. Unless the Governing Body has otherwise decided, a question placed on the agenda of the Conference shall be regarded as having been referred to the Conference with a view to a double discussion.

5. In cases of special urgency or where other special circumstances exist, the Governing Body may, by a majority of three-fifths of the votes cast, decide to refer a question to the Conference with a view to a single discussion.

1. When agreement on the agenda of the Conference has not been reached without vote, the Governing Body shall decide by a first vote whether it will place all the questions proposed on the agenda. If it decides to insert all the questions proposed, the agenda of the Conference is considered as fixed. If it does not so decide, the procedure shall be as follows:

2. Each member of the Governing Body entitled to vote shall receive a voting paper on which a list of all the questions proposed is given, and shall indicate the order in which he wishes them to be considered for inclusion in the agenda by marking his first preference "1", his second "2" and so forth; a voting paper which does not indicate the order of preference for all the questions proposed shall be void. Each member shall place his voting paper in the ballot box as his name is called on the roll.

3. Whenever a question is indicated as a first preference, it shall be allotted one point, whenever it is indicated as a second preference, two points and so forth. The questions shall then be listed on the basis of the total points obtained, the question with the lowest total being regarded as the first in order of preference. If the voting results in an equal number of points for each of two or more questions, a vote by show of hands shall be taken as between them. If the voting is still equal, the order of preference shall be decided by lot.

4. The Governing Body shall then decide the number of questions to be placed on the agenda, in the order of priority established in accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3. For that purpose, it shall vote first on the total number of questions proposed minus one, second on the total number of questions proposed minus two, and so forth, until a majority is obtained.

1. When the Governing Body decides that a question shall be referred to a preparatory technical conference it shall determine the date, composition and terms of reference of the said preparatory conference.

2. The Governing Body shall be represented at such technical conferences which, as a general rule, shall be of a tripartite character.

3. Each delegate to such conferences may be accompanied by one or more advisers.

4. For each preparatory conference convened by the Governing Body, the Office shall prepare a report adequate to facilitate an exchange of views on all the issues referred to it and, in particular, setting out the law and practice in the different countries.

If an objection has been lodged against any item on the agenda by the government of any of the Members, the Conference, after hearing any report upon the subject which the Governing Body may have presented, shall, in accordance with article 16 of the Constitution of the Organisation, decide whether such item is to be retained on the agenda or not. Const. 16, 2

1. When a question is governed by the single-discussion procedure the International Labour Office shall communicate to the governments, so as to reach them not less than 18 months before the opening of the session of the Conference at which the question is to be discussed, a summary report upon the question containing a statement of the law and practice in the different countries and accompanied by a questionnaire drawn up with a view to the preparation of Conventions or Recommendations. This questionnaire shall request governments to consult the most representative organisations of employers and workers before finalizing their replies and to give reasons for their replies. Such replies should reach the Office as soon as possible and not less than 11 months before the opening of the session of the Conference at which the question is to be discussed. In the case of federal countries and countries where it is necessary to translate questionnaires into the national language the period of seven months allowed for the preparation of replies shall be extended to eight months if the government concerned so requests.

2. On the basis of the replies received the Office shall draw up a final report which may contain one or more Conventions or Recommendations. This report shall be communicated by the Office to the governments as soon as possible and every effort shall be made to secure that the report shall reach them not less than four months before the opening of the session of the Conference at which the question is to be discussed.

3. These arrangements shall apply only in cases in which the question has been included in the agenda of the Conference not less than 26 months before the opening of the session of the Conference at which it is to be discussed. If the question has been included in the agenda less than 26 months before the opening of the session of the Conference at which it is to be discussed, a programme of reduced intervals shall be approved by the Governing Body; if the Officers of the Governing Body do not consider it practicable for the Governing Body to approve a detailed programme it shall be in their discretion to agree on a programme of reduced intervals with the Director-General.

4. If a question on the agenda has been considered at a preparatory technical conference the Office, according to the decision taken by the Governing Body in this connection, may either:

(a) communicate to the governments a summary report and a questionnaire as provided for in paragraph 1 above; or

(b) itself draw up on the basis of the work of the preparatory technical conference the final report provided for in paragraph 2 above.

1. When a question is governed by the double-discussion procedure, the International Labour Office shall prepare as soon as possible a preliminary report setting out the law and practice in the different countries and any other useful information, together with a questionnaire. The report and the questionnaire requesting the governments to consult the most representativ


Part I

GENERAL STANDING ORDERS
Article
1.	Composition of the Conference
2.	Right of admission to sittings of the Conference
3.	Officers of the Conference
4.	Selection Committee
5.	Credentials Committee
6.	Conference Drafting Committee
7.	Committee on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations
7bis	Finance Committee of Government Representatives
8.	Other committees
9.	Adjustments to the membership of committees
10.	General provisions concerning committees
11.	Procedure for the adoption, abrogation or withdrawal of Conventions and Recommendations, and the consideration of proposed amendments to the Constitution
11bis	Procedure for the consideration of the Programme and Budget
11ter	Procedure for the consideration of items placed on the agenda for general discussion
12.	Reports of the Chairman of the Governing Body and the Director-General
13.	Duties of the President
14.	Right to address the Conference
15.	Motions, resolutions and amendments
16.	Closure
17.	Resolutions relating to matters not included in an item placed on the agenda
17bis	Prior consultation in respect of proposals for new activities relating to matters ofdirect concern to the United Nations or other specialised agencies
17ter	Time-limit for the submission of proposals for new activities
18.	Proposals involving expenditure
19.	Methods of voting
20.	Quorum
21.	Majority
22.	Secretariat of the Conference
23.	Verbatim reports
24.	Languages

Part II

STANDING ORDERS CONCERNING SPECIAL SUBJECTS

Section A. - Order of business at the opening of each session

25.

Section B. - Verification of credentials

26.

Section C. - Admission of new Members

27.
28.

Section D. - Disqualification from voting of Members which are in arrears in the payment of their contributions to the Organisation

29.	Notification to Member in arrears
30.	Notification to Conference and Governing Body that Member is in arrears
31.	Procedure where proposal is made to permit Member in arrears to vote
32.	Period of validity of a decision to permit Member in arrears to vote
33.	Cessation of disqualification from voting

Section E. - Convention and Recommendation procedure

34.	General provisions
35.	Method of voting for placing items on the agenda
36.	Preparatory conferences
37.	Objections to items on the agenda
38.	Preparatory stages of single-discussion procedure
39.	Preparatory stages of double-discussion procedure
39bis	Consultation of the United Nations and other specialised agencies
40.	Procedure for the consideration of texts
41.	Procedure if a Convention fails to obtain a two-thirds majority
42.	Official translations
43.	Procedure for placing on the agenda of the Conference the question of revising a Convention in whole or in part
44.	Procedure in case of revision of a Convention
45.	Procedure in case of revision of a Recommendation
45bis	Procedure to be followed in the event of the abrogation or withdrawal of Conventions and Recommendations

Section F. - Procedure for the consideration by the Conference of proposed amendments to the Constitution of the Organisation

46.	Inclusion of proposals for the amendment of the Constitution in the agenda
47.	Procedure for the consideration of proposed amendments to the Constitution by the Conference

Section G. - Governing Body elections
48.	Periodicity of elections
49.	Government electoral college
50.	Employers' and Workers' electoral colleges
51.	Notice of elections
52.	Procedure of voting
53.	[Deleted]
54.	Vacancies

Section H. - Committees of the Conference

55.	Scope
56.	Composition of committees and right to participate in their work
57.	Officers of committees
58.	Languages of committees
59.	Committee drafting committees; subcommittees
60.	Sittings
61.	Duties of the Chairman
62.	Right to address the committee
63.	Motions, resolutions and amendments
64.	Closure
65.	Method of voting
66.	Quorum
67.	Amendments to text submitted by committee drafting committee
68.	Secretariat
69.	[Deleted]

Section I. - Conference groups

70.	Autonomy of groups
71.	Officers of groups
72.	Official meetings
73.	Procedure of voting at elections
74.	Non-official meetings
75.	[Deleted]

Section J. - Suspension of a provision of the Standing Orders

76.

Note for Maritime Sessions of the International Labour Conference