The
system of mutual supervision concerns
the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations and the Conference
Committee
on the Application of Standards , both of which were established in 1926
by a resolution of the International Labour Conference (see 1926). The two
Committees first deliberated in 1927.
The Committee of Experts and the Conference Committee examine the annual
reports of the
Member States
on the measures taken to give effect to the provisions of the
conventions to which they have acceded. This is the regular supervisory
mechanism for the obligations arising from conventions and recommendations (
articles 19 and 22 of the ILO Constitution).
The
double-discussion system comprises the mechanisms used to adopt
international labour standards.
In 1924, a so-called “double-reading” system was introduced on a trial
basis. It consisted in submitting draft conventions to a vote at two
successive sessions of the International Labour Conference (ILC) and worked
on the following principle: the vote cast at the first of the two sessions
was considered as provisional only, so as to give the delegates and
governments time to consider the provisions adopted at their leisure. Each
government had the right to propose amendments before the final vote, one
year later at the following ILC session.
In practical terms, the double-reading system left much to be desired. It
was abandoned and replaced in 1926 by a new procedure known as “double
discussion”. Every question continued to be deliberated over two years, but
each round of deliberations was distinct in nature. The first session of
the ILC considered the question in general; the second worked on the actual
texts, in some cases adopting a convention or a recommendation.
This system was applied for the first time in 1927 and 1928. It has been
maintained ever since with only a few changes.
