C16 Medical Examination of Young Persons (Sea) Convention, 1921

Convention concerning the Compulsory Medical Examination of Children
and Young Persons Employed at Sea
(Note: Date of coming into force: 20:11:1922.)
Convention:C016
Place:Geneva
Session of the Conference:3
Date of adoption:11:11:1921

The General Conference of the International Labour Organisation,

Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and having met in its Third Session on 25 October 1921, and

Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard to the compulsory medical examination of children and young persons employed at sea, which is included in the eighth item of the agenda of the Session, and

Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of an international Convention,

adopts the following Convention, which may be cited as the Medical Examination of Young Persons (Sea) Convention, 1921, for ratification by the Members of the International Labour Organisation in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation:

Article 1

For the purpose of this Convention, the term vessel includes all ships and boats, of any nature whatsoever, engaged in maritime navigation, whether publicly or privately owned; it excludes ships of war.

Article 2

The employment of any child or young person under eighteen years of age on any vessel, other than vessels upon which only members of the same family are employed, shall be conditional on the production of a medical certificate attesting fitness for such work, signed by a doctor who shall be approved by the competent authority.

Article 3

The continued employment at sea of any such child or young person shall be subject to the repetition of such medical examination at intervals of not more than one year, and the production, after each such examination, of a further medical certificate attesting fitness for such work. Should a medical certificate expire in the course of a voyage, it shall remain in force until the end of the said voyage.

Article 4

In urgent cases, the competent authority may allow a young person below the age of eighteen years to embark without having undergone the examination provided for in Articles 2 and 3 of this Convention, always provided that such an examination shall be undergone at the first port at which the vessel calls.

Article 5

The formal ratifications of this Convention, under the conditions set forth in the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation, shall be communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office for registration.

Article 6

1. This Convention shall come into force at the date on which the ratifications of two Members of the International Labour Organisation have been registered by the Director-General.

2. It shall be binding only upon those Members whose ratifications have been registered with the International Labour Office.

3. Thereafter, the Convention shall come into force for any member at the date on which its ratification has been registered with the International Labour Office.

Article 7

As soon as the ratifications of two Members of the International Labour Organisation have been registered with the International Labour Office, the Director-General of the International Labour Office shall so notify all the Members of the International Labour Organisation. He shall likewise notify them of the registration of the ratifications which may be communicated subsequently by other Members of the Organisation.

Article 8

Subject to the provisions of Article 6, each Member which ratifies this Convention agrees to bring the provisions of Articles 1,2 3 and 4 into operation not later than 1 January 1924 and to take such action as may be necessary to make these provisions effective.

Article 9

Each Member of the International Labour Organisation which ratifies this Convention engages to apply it to its colonies, possessions and protectorates, in accordance with the provisions of Article 35 of the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation.

Article 10

A Member which has ratified this Convention may denounce it after the expiration of ten years from the date on which the Convention first comes into force, by an act communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office for registration. Such denunciation shall not take effect until one year after the date on which it is registered with the International Labour Office.

Article 11

At least once in ten years, the Governing Body of the International Labour Office shall present to the General Conference a report on the working of this Convention and shall consider the desirability of placing on the agenda of the Conference the question of its revision or modification.

Article 12

The French and English texts of this Convention shall both be authentic.