# United Nations Treaty Series/Volume 2/1/18

No. 18
INSTRUMENT FOR THE AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION
Signed at Paris, on 7 November 1945. Came into force on 26 September 1946, by ratification.
English and French official texts communicated by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. The registration took place on 25 April 1947.
The General Conference of the International Labour Organisation,
Having been convened at Paris by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and having met in its Twenty-seventh Session on 15 October 1945; and
Having decided upon the adoption without delay of a limited number of amendments to the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation designed to deal with problems of immediate urgency, which are included in the fourth item on the agenda of the Session, adopts this fifth day of November of the year 1945, the following instrument embodying amendments to the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation, which may be cited as the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation Instrument of Amendment, 1945:
Article I
In the final paragraph of the Preamble to the Constitution of the Organisation, the words "Constitution of the International Labour Organisation", shall be inserted after the word "following".
Article 2
1. The following paragraphs shall be substituted for the present paragraph 2 of Article 1 of the Constitution of the Organisation:
2. The Members of the International Labour Organisation shall be the States which were Members of the Organisation on 1 November 1945, and such other States as may become Members in pursuance of the provisions of paragraphs 3 and 4 of this Article.
3. Any original Member of the United Nations and any State admitted to membership of the United Nations by a decision of the General Assembly in accordance with the provisions of the Charter may become a Member of the International Labour Organisation by communicating to the Director of the International Labour Office its formal acceptance of the obligations of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation.
4. The General Conference of the International Labour Organisation may also admit Members to the Organisation by a vote concurred in by two-thirds ​of the delegates attending the Session, including two-thirds of the Government delegates present and voting. Such admission shall take effect on the communication to the Director of the International Labour Office by the Government of the new Member of its formal acceptance of the obligations of the Constitution of the Organisation.
5. No Member of the International Labour Organisation may withdraw from the Organisation without giving notice of its intention so to do to the Director of the International Labour Office. Such notice shall take effect two years after the date of its reception by the Director, subject to the Member having at that time fulfilled all financial obligations arising out of its membership. When a Member has ratified any International Labour Convention, such withdrawal shall not affect the continued validity for the period provided for in the Convention of all obligations arising thereunder or relating thereto.
6. In the event of any State having ceased to be a Member of the Organisation, its re-admission to membership shall be governed by the provisions of paragraph 3 or paragraph 4 of this Article as the case may be.
Article 3
The following shall be substituted for the present text of Article 13 of the Constitution of the Organisation:
1. The International Labour Organisation may make such financial and budgetary arrangements with the United Nations as may appear appropriate.
2. Pending the conclusion of such arrangements or if at any time no such arrangements are in force:
(a) each of the Members will pay the travelling and subsistence expenses of its Delegates and their advisers and of its Representatives attending the meetings of the Conference or the Governing Body, as the case may be;
(b) all the other expenses of the International Labour Office and of the meetings of the Conference or Governing Body shall be paid by the Director of the International Labour Office out of the general funds of the International Labour Organisation;
(c) the arrangements for the approval, allocation and collection of the budget of the International Labour Organisation shall be determined by the Conference by a two-thirds majority of the votes cast by the delegates present, and shall provide for the approval of the budget and of the arrangements forthe allocation of expenses among the Members of the Organisation by a committee of Government representatives.
​3. The expenses of the International Labour Organisation shall be borne by the Members in accordance with the arrangements in force in virtue of paragraph 1 or paragraph 2 (c) of this Article.
4. A Member of the Organisation which is in arrears in the payment of its financial contribution to the Organisation shall have no vote in the Conference, in the Governing Body, in any Committee, or in the elections of members of the Governing Body, if the amount of its arrears equals or exceeds the amount of the contributions due from it for the preceding two full years. The Conference may, nevertheless, permit such a Member to vote if it is satisfied that the failure to pay is due to conditions beyond the control of the Member.
5. The Director of the International Labour Office shall be responsible to the Governing Body for the proper expenditure of the funds of the International Labour Organisation.
Article 4
The following shall be substituted for the present text of Article 36 of the Constitution of the Organisation:
Amendments to this Constitution which are adopted by the Conference by a majority of two-thirds of the votes cast by the delegates present shall take effect when ratified or accepted by two-thirds of the Members of the Organisation including five of the eight Members which are represented on the Governing Body as Members of chief industrial importance in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 3 of Article 7 of this Constitution.
Article 5
Three copies of this instrument of amendment shall be authenticated by the signature of the President of the Conference and of the Director of the International Labour Office. Of these copies one shall be deposited in the archives of the International Labour Office, one with the Secretary-General of the League of Nations, and one with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The Director will communicate a certified copy of the instrument to each of the Members of the International Labour Organisation.
Article 6
1. The formal ratifications or acceptances of this instrument of amendment shall be communicated to the Director of the International Labour Office, who shall notify the Members of the Organisation of the receipt thereof.
​2. This instrument of amendment will come into force in accordance with the existing provisions of Article 36 of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation. If the Council of the League of Nations should cease to exist before this instrument has come into force, it shall come into force on ratification or acceptance by three-quarters of the Members of the Organisation.
3. On the coming into force of this instrument, the amendments set forth herein shall take effect as amendments to the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation.
4. On the coming into force of this instrument the Director of the International Labour Office shall so notify all the Members of the International Labour Organisation, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and all the States having signed the Charter of the United Nations.
The foregoing is the authentic text of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation Instrument of Amendment, 1945, duly adopted by the General Conference of the International Labour Organisation on the fifth day of November 1945 in the course of its Twenty-seventh Session which was held at Paris.
The English and French versions of the text of this instrument of amendment are equally authoritative.
In Faith Whereof we have appended our signatures this seventh day of November 1945.
The President of the Conference,
A. Parodi
The Acting Director of the International Labour Office,
Edward J. Phelan