Sensitisation of Labour Court Judges to International Labour Standards

A sensitisation workshop on ILS for the Judges from the Labour Courts in South Africa is proposed to strengthen their already existing capacity to resort to ILS where relevant.

Background and rationale

South Africa has ratified 26 International Labour (ILO) Conventions, of which three Conventions very recently, ie, on June 20th 2013 (Convention on Domestic Workers, Labour Inspection Convention and the Maritime Convention). The country’s commitment to enforcing ILO Conventions at the national level is reflected in the Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP) (2010 – 2014) whose first Priority consists in Strengthening fundamental principles and rights at work.

In this regard, courts can play a crucial role as they can deliver their domestic decisions based on ILS where relevant. Indeed, ILS adopted by the ILO constitute important tools for the development of national legislation. With the emergence of international organizations, the national and international legal spheres no more operate in isolation from each other but are reciprocal and mutual sources of inspiration for the development of the legal rule. The contribution of international labour law is not limited to its impact on labour legislation, ILS are also a highly valuable resource for domestic judges and lawyers seeking to settle labour disputes.

Together with the comments and analysis of the relevant supervisory bodies, ILS offer a useful source of interpretation and inspiration for judges and lawyers in ILO member States. Moreover, upon ratification of international Conventions by ILO Member States, Judiciaries have an important role to play in parallel to the Government in ensuring the respect of the international commitments incurred by the country.

Domestic courts are further increasingly drawing, not only on international labour Conventions and Recommendations, but also on the work of the ILO’s supervisory bodies to interpret and complement their domestic law. The ILO International Training Centre, Turin, has developed a Compendium of court decisions delivered worldwide which attests to this increasing resort to ILS by Judiciaries. In this regard, it is noteworthy that the South African Judiciary has indeed delivered a number of court decisions which refer to International Labour Standards, some of them being quoted in the Compendium. 

Objectives and Contents

It is against this backdrop that a sensitisation workshop on ILS for the Judges from the Labour Courts in South Africa is proposed to strengthen their already existing capacity to resort to ILS where relevant. Indeed, a number of Labour Court having already to a certain extent been exposed to ILS, this workshop proposes a contents’ programme accordingly.

At the end of training, the judge participants will
  • have been introduced to the ILS system: ILO standards and the systems to supervise their application at national level;
  • have discussed and identified when and how South African judges can rely on international labour law to solve labour disputes;
  • have discussed ILS regarding crucial areas of concern to the country, notably termination of employment, legal issues arising from an employment contract involving a labour broker, as well as heard from an ILO expert on the challenges posed by globalisation and the economic crisis to Social Justice. 

Methodology

The limited duration of the training – two and a half days - is aimed at allowing the judges to participate without renouncing their other commitments.

The methodology used in the workshop, to be held in Cape Town, purports to take advantage of the participants’ level of competencies and experience through alternating presentations with group discussions as to allow for exchanges of experiences. In addition, the judges will be asked to reflect on a list of questions regarding the place of international law in the hierarchy of laws and notably how South African judges can resort to international labour law in their case law.


Resource persons

The facilitation of the workshop will be ensured by experts from the International Labour Office and by national legal experts.