A46. What is the status of the answers in this FAQ? Can I rely on the answers as legal opinions?

This FAQ is intended to be an easily accessible source of information that is regularly updated. The current FAQ, dated 2019, is the fifth (revised) edition. The FAQ is intended to help persons engaged in the study or application of the MLC, 2006 to find answers to questions they have about this innovative ILO Convention. It must be noted that the answers provided in the FAQ cannot in themselves be cited as authoritative legal opinions. This is because, in the first place, the precise requirements of the Convention are those contained in the national laws or regulations or other measures adopted by each country to implement the MLC, 2006. No authoritative answer can, therefore, be given to any question without reference to the applicable national legal system. In the second place, the answers in the FAQ are intended to provide information in the form of brief explanations referring to the Convention and other reference materials rather than legal opinions as to the meaning of a requirement in the Convention or its application to an individual situation. Such opinions can be provided by the ILO to governments and shipowners’ and seafarers’ organizations, in particular, upon request and on the understanding that only the International Court of Justice is competent to give authoritative interpretations of international labour Conventions.

General questions about the MLC, 2006