Observation on submission to competent authorities (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

United Arab Emirates

Failure to submit. The Committee recalls that, in its previous comments, it emphasized that, for the purposes of article 19 of the ILO Constitution, discussion in a deliberative assembly – or at a minimum, transmission to a deliberative assembly of information concerning the instruments adopted by the Conference – is an essential component of the constitutional obligation to submit (2005 Memorandum concerning the obligation to submit Conventions and Recommendations to the competent authority, Part II(c)). The Government had previously indicated that, in the United Arab Emirates, instruments adopted by the Conference are submitted to the Council of Ministers as the authority competent to ratify a Convention or Protocol, as well as to decide on any other action which it may deem appropriate in respect of the instruments adopted by the Conference. Given the importance of the objective of submission, the Committee had also recalled previously that, pursuant to the 2005 Memorandum (Part II(d)), even in the absence of a parliamentary body, informing a consultative body makes it possible to carry out a full examination of the instruments, ensuring that they are widely disseminated among the public, which is one of the purposes of the obligation of submission. 

The Committee notes that, in January 2025, the Government sent a communication indicating that eight instruments adopted by the Conference at its 94th, 99th, 100th, 101st, 103rd, 104th, 106th and 108th sessions were submitted to the Standing Committee for Agreements and the Council of Ministers on 22 October 2024. The Committee further notes that, following exchanges with the Office, the Government indicated in a new communication to the Office received on 29 October 2025, that it is currently considering possible amendments to its current practice to comply with its constitutional obligation of submission. In light of the above, and recalling that the obligation of submission is of critical importance to the standards system, the Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of any developments in this respect, including by specifying the relevant authorities to which the instruments will be communicated in the future. It invites the Government to further avail itself of the technical assistance of the Office, if necessary. 

With regard to the instruments the submission of which is still pending, the Committee once again expresses the hope that the Government will soon be in a position to provide information on the submission to the Federal National Council (Majlis Watani Ittihadi), of the 14 instruments adopted by the Conference at its 94th, 99th, 100th, 101st, 103rd, 104th, 106th, 108th and 111th Sessions (2006, 2010–23).