The case stems from a 2023 request by the Governing Body of the Worldwide Labour Group (ILO), which asked the Court docket for an advisory opinion on whether or not the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) contains the appropriate to strike.
Adopted within the aftermath of World Warfare Two, Conference 87 is a cornerstone of worldwide labour regulation, guaranteeing staff and employers the appropriate to kind and be a part of organizations of their selecting. It doesn’t explicitly point out strikes, however advocates have lengthy interpreted freedom of affiliation to incorporate that proper.
ICJ President Yūji Iwasawa started Monday’s proceedings by studying the formal query to the judges, referencing the ILO’s decision and the Court docket’s procedural authority. He famous the “tripartite construction of the ILO, which is comprised of representatives of governments, employers and staff.”
A uncommon request
Tomi Kohiyama, ILO Authorized Adviser, recalled that the ILO had not appeared earlier than the ICJ in a consultative capability since 1932, underscoring the rarity of such requests.
She stated the ILO secretariat wouldn’t take a place on topic however would help the Court docket by clarifying institutional context and interpretative approaches beneath the Vienna Conference on the Regulation of Treaties.
“The participation of organisations of employers and staff … is with out precedent within the historical past of your august establishment,” she added, referring to the ILO’s tripartite nature.
Three voices of ILO
Based in 1919, the ILO is exclusive inside the UN system for its tripartite structure, bringing collectively representatives of governments, employers and workers to set worldwide labour requirements.
That stability, nonetheless, has generally led to impasse – most notably in 2012, when employer teams challenged whether or not Conventions No. 87 and 98 acknowledge a proper to strike.
The headquarters constructing of the Worldwide Labour Group (ILO) in Geneva.
Arguments from labour and enterprise
Paapa Danquah, talking for the Worldwide Commerce Union Confederation (ITUC), described strikes as a timeless expression of collective motion.
“Strike motion has been our important instrument … to enhance labour situations and to defend our human dignities,” he instructed the court docket.
He argued that the appropriate to strike is inherently a part of freedom of affiliation and thus needs to be acknowledged as protected beneath Conference No. 87.
In distinction, Roberto Suárez Santos, on behalf of the Worldwide Organisation of Employers (IOE), asserted that whereas the appropriate to strike is just not objectionable in precept, Conference No. 87 neither explicitly nor implicitly covers the appropriate to strike.
He warned that to learn it into the Conference now would impose a prescriptive regime – defining modalities of strike – that would disrupt nuanced nationwide labour techniques.
He expressed that the right path can be consensus inside the ILO’s tripartite our bodies, not unilateral judicial elevation of requirements.
ICJ advisory opinions
Over three days of hearings, 21 international locations and organizations are anticipated to take the stand, with 31 written statements already filed within the ICJ Registry – reflecting international curiosity within the final result.
The Court docket’s advisory opinion, anticipated within the coming months, is not going to be legally binding however may profoundly affect worldwide and nationwide labour regulation.
