Notes 1 For example, an ILO report investigating the labour situation in Spain was an important factor leading to the adoption of a new trade union law in Spain in 1977. This national law incorporated provisions from the ILO’s core standards on freedom of association and the right to organize (Convention Nos 87 and 98), and Spain subsequently ratified Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association and the Right to Organize later that year. See International Labour Standards: A workers’ education handbook, fourth (revised) edition, Geneva, ILO, 1998, p. 107. 2 Unless otherwise indicated, this Handbook will use the term ‘indigenous peoples’. The ILO refers to ‘indigenous and tribal peoples’, and the UN has yet to decide its preferred term with UN documents using both ‘indigenous people’ and ‘indigenous peoples’. However, indigenous peoples have been very clear in indicating that they prefer ‘indigenous peoples’ and MRG will do likewise except when referring to ILO Conventions and documents, when the ILO term will be used. 3 For more details see International Labour Standards: A workers’ education handbook, pp. 3–8. 4 This was the Annex to the Treaty of Versailles (chapter XIII). See Cairola E. and Chiarabini, A., International Labour Standards: A Trade Union Training Guide, International Labour Office-Geneva and International Training Centre of the ILO-Turin, 1998, p. 53. 5 The ratification process is not complete until the ILO receives a letter or other document, i.e. the instrument of ratification, sealed and signed by the relevant national authority. For example, the Argentine National Congress authorized ratification of ILO Convention No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in March 1992 (Act No. 24,071) but the formal letter of ratification was sent to the ILO in July 2000. Since Argentina had ratified the earlier Convention No. 107 dealing with indigenous and tribal populations, this Convention was applicable in the country during the interim period, and the ILO supervisory bodies continued to monitor its application in Argentina. 6 This was recently reiterated by the Tripartite Committee set up to examine an Article 24 representation alleging non-observance by Denmark of the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (1989) (No. 169). The Committee clarified that ‘no reservations to the ratification of ILO Conventions are admissible …’, referring to a declaration made by the Government of Denmark when ratifying the Convention. For more details see Governing Body document GB.280/18/5 of March 2001. 7 For example, ratification of Convention No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (1989) amounts to an automatic denunciation of the earlier Convention No. 107 on Indigenous and Tribal Populations (1957), because Convention No. 169 revises Convention No. 107. Usually, denunciations can be done every 10 years but this may vary. Most Conventions have a provision describing when they can be denounced. 8 For more details, see Handbook of Procedures Relating to International Labour Conventions and Recommendations, International Labour Standards Department, Geneva, ILO, Rev. 1/1995 (pp. 3–6). This publication is also available online under ILOLEX at www.ilo.org 9 See International Labour Standards: A Trade Union Training Guide, p. 104. 10 The ILO numbers its standards, both Conventions and Recommendations, as they are adopted. For simplification purposes, the number of the Convention is used for easy reference. This Handbook will use both the names and the numbers of the Conventions. 11 The main body responsible for looking into the question of how member states are fulfilling their obligations under ILO Conventions is the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations. Another one is the ILO Conference Committee on the Applications of Standards. See later under ch. V for more details. 12 In keeping with the perception prevailing at the time that women needed special protection, Convention No. 4 on Night Work (Women) (1919) banned women from working at night, with the exception of family businesses. This was subsequently revised in 1934 and again in 1948, and the prohibition may be lifted during emergencies or national crises, but only after consultation with employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Conventions on this subject are now considered to be outdated except in very special circumstances. 13 Report of the Committee of Experts 2001, p. 477. 14 As note 13, p. 467. 15 General Survey on Equality in Employment and THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION: A HANDBOOK FOR MINORITIES AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES 45