"In accordance with the Joint
Declaration of the Government of the People's Republic of China and the
Government of the Republic of Portugal on the Question of Macao (hereinafter
referred to as the Joint Declaration), the Government of the People's Republic
of China will resume the exercise of sovereignty over Macao with effect from 20
December 1999. Macao will, from that date, become a Special Administrative
Region of the People's Republic of China and will enjoy a high degree of autonomy,
except in foreign and defence affairs which are the responsibilities of the
Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China.
It is provided both in section VIII of
Elaboration by the Government of the People's Republic of China of its Basic
Policies Regarding Macao, which is Annex I to the Joint Declaration, and
Article 138 of the Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the
People's Republic of China, which was adopted on 31 March 1993 by the National
People's Congress of the People's Republic of China, that international
agreements to which the People's Republic of China is not yet a party but which
are implemented in Macao may continue to be implemented in the Macao Special
Administrative Region.
In accordance with the above provisions, I
am instructed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of
China to inform Your Excellency of the following:
Convention concerning Worker's
Compensation for Accidents (No. 17), adopted at Geneva on 10 June 1925
(hereinafter referred to as the "Convention"), which applies to Macao
at present, will continue to apply to the Macao Special Administrative Region
with effect from 20 December 1999.
Within the above ambit, the Government of
the People's Republic of China will assume the responsibility for the
international rights and obligations that place on a Party to the Convention."
Convention concerning Workmen's Compensation for Accidents
(ILO No. 17)
(Adopted at Geneva on 10 June 1925)
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 Seventh Session on 19 May 1925, and
Having decided upon
the adoption of certain proposals with regard to workmen's compensation for
accidents, which is included in the first item of the agenda of the Session,
and
Having determined
that these proposals shall take the form of an international Convention,
adopts this tenth
day of June of the year one thousand nine hundred and twenty-five the following
Convention, which may be cited as the Workmen's Compensation (Accidents)
Convention, 1925, 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
Each Member of the
International Labour Organisation which ratifies this Convention undertakes to
ensure that workmen who suffer personal injury due to an industrial accident,
or their dependants, shall be compensated on terms at least equal to those
provided by this Convention.
Article 2
1. The laws and
regulations as to workmen's compensation shall apply to workmen, employees and
apprentices employed by any enterprise, undertaking or establishment of whatsoever
nature, whether public or private.
2. It shall
nevertheless be open to any Member to make such exceptions in its national
legislation as it deems necessary in respect of--
(a) persons whose
employment is of a casual nature and who are employed otherwise than for the
purpose of the employer's trade or business;
(b) out-workers;
(c) members of the
employer's family who work exclusively on his behalf and who live in his house;
(d) non-manual
workers whose remuneration exceeds a limit to be determined by national laws or
regulations.
Article 3
This Convention
shall not apply to--
(1) seamen and
fishermen for whom provision shall be made by a later Convention;
(2) persons covered
by some special scheme, the terms of which are not less favourable than those
of this Convention.
Article 4
This Convention
shall not apply to agriculture, in respect of which the Convention concerning
workmen's compensation in agriculture adopted by the International Labour
Conference at its Third Session remains in force.
Article 5
The compensation
payable to the injured workman, or his dependants, where permanent incapacity
or death results from the injury, shall be paid in the form of periodical
payments; provided that it may be wholly or partially paid in a lump sum, if
the competent authority is satisfied that it will be properly utilised.
Article 6
In case of
incapacity, compensation shall be paid not later than as from the fifth day
after the accident, whether it be payable by the employer, the accident insurance
institution, or the sickness insurance institution concerned.
Article 7
In cases where the
injury results in incapacity of such a nature that the injured workman must
have the constant help of another person, additional compensation shall be
provided.
Article 8
The national laws
or regulations shall prescribe such measures of supervision and methods of
review as are deemed necessary.
Article 9
Injured workmen
shall be entitled to medical aid and to such surgical and pharmaceutical aid as
is recognised to be necessary in consequence of accidents. The cost of such aid
shall be defrayed either by the employer, by accident insurance institutions,
or by sickness or invalidity insurance institutions.
Article 10
1. Injured workmen
shall be entitled to the supply and normal renewal, by the employer or insurer,
of such artificial limbs and surgical appliances as are recognised to be
necessary: provided that national laws or regulations may allow in exceptional
circumstances the supply and renewal of such artificial limbs and appliances to
be replaced by the award to the injured workman of a sum representing the
probable cost of the supply and renewal of such appliances, this sum to be
decided at the time when the amount of compensation is settled or revised.
2. National laws or
regulations shall provide for such supervisory measures as are necessary,
either to prevent abuses in connection with the renewal of appliances, or to
ensure that the additional compensation is utilised for this purpose.
Article 11
The national laws
or regulations shall make such provision as, having regard to national
circumstances, is deemed most suitable for ensuring in all circumstances, in
the event of the insolvency of the employer or insurer, the payment of
compensation to workmen who suffer personal injury due to industrial accidents,
or, in case of death, to their dependants.
Article 12
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 13
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 14
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 ratifications which may be communicated subsequently by other
Members of the Organisation.
Article 15
Subject to the
provisions of Article 13, each Member which ratifies this Convention agrees to
bring the provisions of Articles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 into
operation not later than 1 January 1927 and to take such action as may be necessary
to make these provisions effective.
Article 16
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 17
A Member which has
ratified this Convention may denounce it after the expiration of five 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 18
At such times as it
may consider necessary the Governing Body of the International Labour Office
shall present to the General Conference a report on the working of this
Convention and shall examine the desirability of placing on the agenda of the
Conference the question of its revision in whole or in part.
Article 19
The French and
English texts of this Convention shall both be authentic.