UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families

Did you ever wonder when exactly after the deposit of the 20th ratification or accession the Convention will enter into force, what needs to be done and how your organization could be involved ? We have some suggestions.

A quick reminder about what International Standards are and how they are created can be found on the following page: http://www.december18.net/paper3creationstandards.htm
To get a good insight into the Treaty Body system, read the following report “The UN Human Rights Treaty System: Universality at the Crossroads” by Professor Anne F. Bayefsky on http://www.yorku.ca/hrights/

The Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (CPRMW) will enter into force on the first day of the month following a period of three months after the date of the deposit of the twentieth ratification or accession. (e.g. if the 20th ratification or accession is deposited on May 20, 2002, the CPRMW will enter into force on the 1st September 2002.).

For the purpose of reviewing the application of the CPRMW, a Committee – also known as a Treaty Body - of 10 experts is elected 6 months after the date of the entry into force (following our example, the election would be held at the beginning of March 2003). The experts are elected by secret ballot by the States Parties (those countries that did ratify or accede to the CPRMW, see http://www.december18.net/UNconvention.htm) from a list of persons nominated by these same States Parties.

At least four months before the date of the election (eg. before 1 November 2002), the UN Secretary General will be inviting all State Parties to submit within two months their nomination (eg. before 1 January 2003). A finalized list of nominees will be returned to all State Parties one month (eg. 1 February 2003) before the final election (eg. 1 March 2003)

What can you do?

Each State Party has the right to nominate one person from among its own nationals. Your organization can help identify and recommend to member states persons of high moral standing, impartiality and recognized competence in the field. But remember, she or he must be a national of one of the State Parties. It is a good idea not to wait for the 20th ratification to contact the respective government.

Upon receiving the list of nominations, a one-month strong national and international NGO lobby should be set up for the final election of 10 experts. On the international level, December 18 and Migrants Rights International will be organising a letter campaign aimed at the Foreign Affairs Ministers and the New York UN missions of all State Parties. The letter will include a shortlist of the best candidates based on the input provided by NGOs through a consultative process. The same NGOs will be invited to co-sign the letter.

The election

The election of the members of the Committee (the experts) is held at a meeting of States Parties convened by the UN Secretary General. Two thirds of the States Parties constitute a quorum. The experts elected to the Committee are the nominees who obtain the largest number of votes and an absolute majority of the votes of the representatives of the present voting States Parties.

Once the Committee is set up, elections are held every second year.

The members

The members are elected as independent experts and serve in their personal capacity for a term of four years. The term of five of the members elected in the very first election expire at the end of two years. Immediately at the first election, the names of these five members will be chosen by lot by the Chairman of the meeting.

Once the Convention is ratified or acceded by 41 countries, 4 additional members will be elected. All members are eligible for re-election if renominated.

If a member dies or resigns or declares any other cause why she or he can no longer perform the duties of the Committee, the State Party that nominated the expert will appoint another expert from among its own nationals for the remaining part of the term. The new appointment is subject to the approval of the Committee.

The members receive emoluments for UN resources on such terms and conditions as the General Assembly decides.

Current membership in the existing 6 treaty bodies shows two main flaws. Although independence is requested, an average of 50% of the persons elected to treaty bodies are employed in some capacity by their governments. In four of the 6 treaty bodies, representation of women experts is less than 20%.

Staff and facilities

The UN Secretary General provides the necessary staff and facilities for the effective performance of the functions of the Committee. The staff usually consists of 2 persons. The total cost of Treaty Body Committee for a Convention that has about 50 State Parties amounts up to 2 million US$/year.

State Party Reporting obligations

Within the year of entry into force of the Convention, the State Parties must submit for consideration by the Committee a report on the legislative, administrative and other measures they have taken to give effect to the provisions of the CPRMW. Thereafter every five years and whenever the Committee so requests.

What can you do?

Note that the present list of State Parties do not have a good record of submitting reports to the other Conventions they ratified or acceded. States having ratified the Migrant Rights Convention must be reminded about their forthcoming reporting obligations as soon as the 20th ratification is deposited. NGOs should try to give direct input into the drafting process for country reports. Parallel to this, they should also draft focused, succinct and accurate complementary background information for the information of Committee members. States will rarely objectively indicate the problem areas in implementing the Convention. NGO involvement should be done on the basis of strong expertise and technical knowledge, as part of a dialogue and in a spirit of cooperation. Treaty bodies are not tribunals and do not condemn, but they are a unique tool for measuring respect of international obligations by governments.

NGOs have two main roles in relation to UN treaty bodies: to supply information on States failures to respect their obligations under the relevant treaty; and to publicize the conclusions and recommendations of the Committee at the national level and monitor and assist their government in fulfilling those recommendations. In order to do this, NGOs must become thoroughly familiar with the Convention, and be ready to commit time and mobilize resources.

States that do have problems on how to write such a report, should contact Mr. Alessio Bruni at the Office of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights ([email protected]) to get information on possible technical support.

IMPORTANT !
Not one of the present State Parties have to-date recognized the competence of the Committee to receive and consider individual cases and State Party claims that another State Party is not fulfilling its obligations under the present Convention (Articles 76 and 77, see http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/m_mwctoc.htm ). NGOs should make it a priority to lobby all State Parties to recognize both.

In the meantime, NGOs in the North, and especially in the European Union, should strengthen their campaign for the ratification of the CPRWM. Especially now that the EU have decided to harmonize their immigration and asylum policies by 2004. Ask your government with the help of your MP or any other politician for an official letter explaining their position with regard to the ratification of the Convention. In the past year, such a letter was obtained from the governments of The Netherlands, the UK and Canada. Their main points are available on http://www.december18.net/UNconvention.htm

To prepare answers, it is useful to read through the ‘Travaux préparatoires’. These are the reports of the drafting committee meetings of the Convention (1980-1990). The reports contain the discussions that led to the present Convention. These may resolve some misinterpretations. An overview of the schedule of the discussions of each chapter of the Convention and the report number can be found on
http://www.december18.net/UNconvention.htm
You will find the reports at any designated UN depository library. Check the list of full deposit libraries by country on the following site:
http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/deplib/countries/index.html