ILO-IMO JTWG Report
The meeting of the Joint Tripartite Working Group (JTWG) to identify and address seafarers’ issues and the human element took place in Geneva from 26 November to 28 November 2024.
The core business was the adoption of the final text of the Draft Guidelines on Fair treatment of seafarers detained on suspicion of committing crimes, then renamed by the JTWG, as Guidelines on fair treatment of seafarers detained in connection with alleged crimes. They were elaborated during the IMO LEG 111th session on April 2024 by a specific Working Group on Fair Treatment of Seafares detained on suspicion of committing crimes, with the participation of the CMI.
The document contains guiding principles to ensure the protection of the human rights of seafarers for the port and coastal States, the flag State, the State of which the seafarer is national, the shipowners and the seafarers themselves.
The guidelines are not meant to be legally binding, but are intended to be a reference tool for principles that can be reflected in the design and implementation of policies, strategies, programmes, legislation, administrative measures and social dialogue mechanisms.
The IMO LEG draft guidelines made reference to the protection of seafarers detained in a jurisdiction other than that of the seafarers’ nationality, on suspicion of committing crimes during the course of their employment on board a ship. The Legal Committee agreed to refer these draft Guidelines to the JTWG as a base document for refinement.
The JTWG was constituted by eight Governments as IMO representatives, appointed by the IMO Council, at its 132nd session in July 2024 (Belgium, Greece, India, Liberia, Panama, Philippines, Thailand, United States), eight Shipowners’ representatives and eight Seafarers’ representatives from among the Shipowners’ and Seafarers’ members of the Special Tripartite Committee (STC) nominated by their respective Groups.
Other IMO and ILO Member States and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, including CMI, were invited to attend the JTWG as observers. CMI participated in it (represented by Valeria Eboli, Chair IWG FTS).
During the works, the draft guidelines were thoroughly analysed and several issues were raised.
The main changes to the draft text are as follows.
The field of application was extended. The parties agreed that the guidelines should be applicable to all those detained in connection with an alleged crime, i.e. not only those suspected of committing or having committed it but also witnesses or others otherwise involved.
A large part of the discussion was focused on the relevant jurisdiction. IMO LEG 111 proposed to make reference to the relations, in case of detention, between the port or coastal State and the State whose the seafarers are nationals, in line with the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. In the framework of the JTWG it was proposed to make reference also to the relations between the port or coastal State and eventually the State whose the seafarers are “residents or otherwise domiciled”. It was stressed that the States could be called upon to go beyond the limits of the aforementioned Vienna Convention and to assume more restrictive obligations.
In general, the text was reformulated in a more preceptive way, deleting almost all the expressions likely to leave a margin of appreciation to the States in relation to the protection of the seafarers.
A mention was added to the role of the seafarer recruitment and placement services, since in some Stets they have responsibilities to take care of their seafarers.
Several references to the United Nations General Assembly resolution 43/173 of 09 December 1988 “Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment” were also added.
All the parties worked in a very cooperative manner and the final version of the text was approved without any objections.
By Valeria Eboli