ILS CONFERENCE –
MARITIME LABOUR CONVENTION
Introduction
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Thursday, 09 May 2013
0900-1030 Introduction
1030-1100 Coffee
1100-1230 Implications for Maritime Administrations
as a Flag State
1230-1330 Lunch
1330-1500 Port State Jurisdiction and Port State Control
1500-1530 Coffee
1530-1700 Shipowner Obligations under the MLC
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Friday, 10 May 2013
0900-1000 Documents and Certificates under the MLC
1000-1130 Contractual Issues for Shipowners
1130-1200 Coffee
1200-1330 Safety Regulatory Issues: The Role of
Recognised Organisations under the MLC
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BACKGROUND
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Labour law is of a hybrid nature,
consisting of a regulatory law
element, being an important matter
of public socioeconomic policy and
a private law element because it is
contractual in nature.
The legal process involves an
administrative law element
containing appropriate
administrative law remedies
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International Labour
Organization (ILO)
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ILO as the oldest UN specialized agency
(founded 1919), with its own charter
Tripartite structure (representations from
government, employers, labour)
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ILO structure
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Governing Body
JMC – bipartite body consisting of
representatives of shipowners and
seafarers; chaired by GBody chairman
International Labour Conference
(maritime session) at 8-12 year intervals
Scheme of ILO instruments: conventions
and recommendations
Forum for development of international
labour law, including maritime labour law
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ILO instruments
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40 conventions relating to
seafarers and numerous
recommendations (over 30 pertain
directly to seafarers)
ILO instruments are implemented
through national legislation and in
appropriate cases, through
collective agreements
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Structure of MLC

Consists of
 Preamble
 16
Articles identified by Roman
numerals
 5 Titles identified under Arabic
numerals, under which there are
regulations ranging from 1.1 to 5.3
 Under the Regulations, there is a
Code consisting of “Standard” and
“Guideline”
 Standard
= mandatory
 Guideline = recommendatory
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Structure of MLC
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Convention practices not fully in
alignment with the Vienna
Convention on the Law of Treaties,
1969
Implications of the terms
“Member”, “Ratification” and
“Acceptance” (see, for example,
Arts. XII and XIV)
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Structure of MLC
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Definitions in Article 2
 Competent
Authority
 Seafarer
 Ship
 Shipowner
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MLC
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The MLC consolidates 36 Conventions
and one Protocol, adopted since 1920,
which are listed in Article X
Three other maritime Conventions are
not included. These are
 seafarers' ID, 1958 (C108) & 2003
(C185)
 seafarers' pension, 1946 (C71)
 Minimum Age (Trimmers and
Stokers), 1921 (C15).
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