Wilfred Jenks Lecture Series
Laurence R. Helfer: Pushback Against Supervisory Systems: Lessons for the ILO from UN Human Rights Institutions
This lecture offers a wider perspective on the ongoing challenges to the ILO supervisory system. It analyzes the different ways that states and non-state actors have pushed back against treaty monitoring bodies created by UN human rights conventions and compares this pushback to ongoing challenges to ILO expert committees relating to the right to strike.
30 October 2025
About Laurence R. Helfer
Laurence R. Helfer is the Harry R. Chadwick, Sr. Professor of Law and co-director of the Center for International and Comparative Law at Duke University. He is also a Permanent Visiting Professor at iCourts: Center of Excellence for International Courts at the University of Copenhagen. Helfer has authored more than 100 scholarly publications, including four coauthored books, two edited volumes, and numerous articles in peer review law and political science journals. He has lectured widely on his diverse research interests, which include international law and institutions, human rights, international labor standards, and international adjudication and dispute settlement. Helfer was nominated by the United States and elected as a member of the UN Human Rights Committee for 2023 to 2026.
Selected bibliography and documents
- Pushback Against Supervisory Systems: Lessons for the ILO from International Human Rights Institutions in ILO100: Law For Social Justice 257 (George Politakis et al. eds. 2019)
- The ILO at 100: Institutional Innovation in an Era of Populism, 113 AJIL Unbound 396 (2019)
- Monitoring Compliance with Un-ratified Treaties: The ILO Experience, 71 Law & Contemporary Problems 195 (2008)
- Understanding Change in International Organizations: Globalization and Innovation in the ILO, 59 Vanderbilt Law Review 649 (2006)
Disclaimer
The Wilfred Jenks Lecture Series is an academic initiative organized by the Office of the Legal Adviser. The views expressed in the lectures and any accompanying material are those of the lecturers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the International Labour Office, the International Labour Organization, or its tripartite constituents.Wilfred Jenks Lecture Series
The Wilfred Jenks Lecture Series is an initiative of the Office of the Legal Adviser of the ILO aimed at sparking academic reflection, disseminating knowledge and raising awareness about the ILO’s mandate and its legal and normative work.