The Forced Labour Convention, the full title of which is the Convention Concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour, 1930 , is one of eight ILO fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organization. Its object and purpose is to suppress the use of forced labour in all its forms irrespective of the nature of the work or the sector of activity in which it may be performed. The Convention defines forced labour as "all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily", with few exceptions like compulsory military service. The convention excludes "adult able-bodied males", to whom legal imposition of forced labour is allowed. The Convention was adopted in Geneva 28 June 1930 and came into force on 1 May 1932. By the end of 1932 ten countries had ratified the convention. Austria in 1960, Luxembourg in 1964 and Malta in 1965 were the last Western European countries to ratify the convention. Canada ratified it in 2011 and as of 2015 the United States has not ratified it. The Convention was supplemented by the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 which canceled a number of exceptions to abolishment in the 1930 Convention, such as punishment for strikes and as a punishment for holding certain political views.
Exceptions to Convention
Article 2 of the Convention excepts from the term forced or compulsory labour the following: Article 11 of the Convention states that forced or compulsory labour may be imposed only upon "adult able-bodied males who are of an apparent age of not less than 18 and not more than 45 years".
Ratifications
As of 2016, the Convention has been ratified 178 of the 187 ILO members. The ILO members that have not ratified the convention are: UN member states which are not members of the ILO are Andorra, Bhutan, Liechtenstein, Micronesia, Monaco, Nauru, and North Korea; these states are not eligible to ratify the Convention unless they first join the ILO.
Protocol
In 2014, a protocol was adopted by the International Labour Conference: P29, Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930. The Protocol was adopted with 437 votes in favour, 8 against and 27 abstentions. The Government of Thailand was the only state to vote against adoption, though it reversed its position a few days later. The protocol obligates states parties to provide protection and appropriate remedies, including compensation, to victims of forced labour and to sanction the perpetrators of forced labour. It also obligates states parties to develop "a national policy and plan of action for the effective and sustained suppression of forced or compulsory labour". On 14 May 2015, Niger became the first state to ratify the 2014 Protocol. As of November 2016, it has been ratified by nine states: Argentina, Czech Republic, France, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Norway, Panama, and the United Kingdom. The Protocol entered into force on 9 November 2016.
