Appendix 4: Denunciation of Conventions

Every Convention contains an Article defining the conditions under which States which have ratified the Convention may denounce it.

In the case of Conventions 1-25, denunciation is permitted after the expiration of a stated period (usually ten years but in certain cases five years) from the date on which the Convention first came into force.

In the case of Convention 26 onwards, denunciation is permitted within an interval of a year (referred to informally as a window of opportunity) from the expiration of a succession of periods (usually ten years, but in certain cases five years) from the date on which the Convention first came into force.

Denunciations are usually the automatic consequence of a State's ratification of a revised or more up-to-date Convention on the same subject. A State may also denounce a Convention because it can no longer comply with its provisions or it is no longer in accordance with its views and concerns.

New Zealand has denounced the following nine Conventions:

Night Work (Women) Convention, 1934 (No. 41)

Denounced in 1950 as the result of ratifying Night Work (Women) (Revised) Convention, 1948 (No. 89).

Minimum Age (Non-Industrial Employment) (Revised) Convention, 1937 (No. 60)

Denounced in 1961 because some of its requirements were at variance with established New Zealand law and practice (for example, children under 13 selling newspapers) and legislative changes did not have public or parental support.

Night Work (Women) (Revised) Convention, 1948 (No. 89)

Denounced in 1981 because the Convention was considered discriminatory and in contravention of the Human Rights Commission Act.

Inspection of Emigrants Convention, 1926 (No. 21)

Denounced in 1982 because it was not considered appropriate to the New Zealand situation where migrants no longer travel in groups on board ships.

Underground Work (Women) Convention, 1935 (No. 45)

Denounced in 1987 because the Convention discriminates between the treatment of men and women in contravention of the Human Rights Commission Act and international human rights instruments.

Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 1)Hours of Work (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1930 (No. 30)Reduction of Hours of Work (Glass-Bottle Works) Convention, 1935 (No. 49)

Denounced in 1989 because these Conventions no longer reflected labour practice in New Zealand and were considered to restrict the adoption of more flexible working hours.

Statistics of Wages and Hours of Work Convention, 1938 (No. 63)

Denounced in 2001 because this Convention is now out of date. This Convention has been superseded by the Labour Statistics Convention, 1985 (no. 160) which provides superior guidelines for the collection of labour statistics of international comparability.

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