Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Article 2(1) of the Convention. Scope of application. Further to its previous comment, the Committee notes the Government’s statement that seafarers’ identity booklets are issued to all seafarers of Slovenian citizenship upon request. The Committee observes, however, that section 2 of the Rules on seafarers’ books (Official Gazette No. 5/2002), as last amended in 2007 (Official Gazette No. 80/2007), clearly provide for the issue of seafarers’ identity documents to seafarers serving onboard Slovenian merchant vessels. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary measures in order to align the national legislation with established practice.

Part V of the report form. Practical application. The Committee notes the information contained in the Government’s report indicating that a total number of 543 seafarers’ identity booklets had been issued in the period 2005–09. The Committee requests the Government to continue to supply up-to-date information on the practical application of the Convention, including for instance, statistical information on the number of seafarers’ identity documents issued during the reporting period, extracts from reports of the services entrusted with the enforcement of the relevant laws and regulations and any difficulties encountered in the application of the Convention.

The Committee also takes the opportunity to recall that the Convention has been revised by the Seafarers’ Identity Documents Convention (Revised), 2003 (No. 185), which was adopted by the ILO to enhance port and border security, while at the same time facilitating the seafarers’ right to shore leave, by developing a more secure and globally uniform seafarers’ identity document. In fact, Convention No. 185 complements actions taken within the framework of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) through the adoption of the International Ship and Port-facility Security Code (ISPS), sets out basic parameters regarding the content and form of the documents and provides technical guidance in the annexes in order to ensure that Members may easily adapt their systems while taking national circumstances into account. In this respect, the Committee wishes to refer to the summary of consensus achieved at the consultative meeting on Convention No. 185, held in Geneva on
23–24 September 2010, according to which “further ratifications and recognition of the seafarers’ identity document (SID) to facilitate shore leave are urgently needed, especially among port States” (see CSID/C.185/2010/4, p. 17). The Committee therefore invites the Government to consider the possibility of ratifying Convention No. 185 in the near future and to keep the Office informed of any decisions taken in this respect.