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Article 3 of the Convention. Prohibition of night work of women. Further to its previous comment, the Committee notes the Government’s statement that it is making every effort to improve employment opportunities for women and to ease the constraints hindering their employment. The Government adds that a thorough study of the 1990 Protocol to Convention No. 89 will be carried out in the light of prevailing social conditions before any decision about its possible ratification is taken.

In this connection, the Committee wishes to draw once more the Government’s attention to the fact that member States are increasingly required to initiate a review process of their protective legislation aiming at the elimination of any provisions contrary to the principle of equal treatment between men and women, except those connected with maternity protection, and with due account being taken of national circumstances. This trend reflects also the growing expectation that the same standards of protection should apply to men and women alike in accordance with the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), and also the widely ratified UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (to which, parenthetically, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya acceded in 1989).

In the light of these observations, the Committee hopes that the Government will give favourable consideration to the possibility of ratifying the Night Work Convention, 1990 (No. 171), which is not devised as a gender-specific instrument but focuses on the protection of all night workers in all branches and occupations. The Committee requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any decision taken or envisaged in this regard.

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The Committee notes the Government’s report according to which section 96 of Act No. 58-2970 of 1 May 1970 establishing the Labour Code continues to give effect to the Convention.

The Committee takes this opportunity to refer to paragraphs 191-202 of its 2001 General Survey on the night work of women in industry, in which it observed that the present trend is no doubt to move away from a blanket prohibition against women’s night work and to give the social partners the responsibility for determining the extent of the permitted exemptions. It also noted that many countries are in the process of easing or eliminating legal restrictions on women’s employment during the night with the aim of improving women’s opportunities in employment and strengthening non-discrimination. The Committee further recalled that member States are under an obligation to review periodically their protective legislation in light of scientific and technological knowledge with a view to revising all gender-specific provisions and discriminatory constraints. This obligation stems from Article 11(3) of the 1979 United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (to which parenthetically the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya acceded in 1989), as later reaffirmed in point 5(b) of the 1985 ILO resolution on equal opportunities and equal treatment for men and women in employment.

More concretely, the Committee considered that the Protocol of 1990 to Convention No. 89 was designed as a tool for smooth transition from outright prohibition to free access to night employment, especially for those States that wished to offer the possibility of night employment to women workers, but felt that some institutional protection should remain in place to avoid exploitative practices and a sudden worsening of the social conditions of women workers. It also suggested that greater efforts should be made by the Office to help those constituents who are still bound by the provisions of Convention No. 89, and who are not yet ready to ratify the new Night Work Convention, 1990 (No. 171), to realize the advantages of modernizing their legislation in line with the provisions of the Protocol. Therefore, the Committee invites once more the Government to give favourable consideration to the ratification of the 1990 Protocol which affords greater flexibility in the application of the Convention while remaining focused on the protection of female workers. The Committee asks the Government to keep the Office informed of any decision taken in this regard.

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The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report.

The Committee notes that section 96 of Act No. 58-2970 of 1 May 1970 establishing the Labour Code appears to allow for much broader exceptions to the prohibition of night work for women than those permitted under the Convention since it provides that the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs may authorize exceptions to the prohibition of night work for women in such cases, circumstances and occupations as he may determine by Order.

The Committee trusts that the necessary measures will be adopted in the near future to ensure that any exceptions to the night work prohibition are strictly limited to the cases specified in Articles 4 (force majeure and perishable goods), 5 (national interest) and 8 (managerial and technical posts and health services) of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of any progress achieved in this regard.

The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that a new draft Labour Relations Code has been prepared and is currently under consideration by different parties including employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee requests the Government to communicate the text of the new legislation as soon as it is adopted.

Finally, recalling the conclusions of this year’s General Survey on the night work of women in industry (paragraphs 191-202), the Committee wishes to invite the Government to give favourable consideration to the ratification of either the Night Work Convention, 1990 (No. 171), or the Protocol of 1990 to Convention No. 89. The Committee requests the Government to report on any decisions taken in this matter.