C. Wilfred Jenks (7 March 1909 – 9 October 1973) was an international lawyer and director-general of the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...

(1970–1973).Elihu Lauterpacht, "Jenks, Clarence Wilfred (1909–1973)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, (2004, Oxford University Press, accessed 24 Aug 2011.

Early life and education

Clarence Wilfred Jenks was born 7 March 1909 in Bootle, Lancashire. His father, a merchant navy officer, drowned when Jenks was eleven and he assumed responsibility with his mother for the family. Jenks was educated in state schools in Liverpool and, in 1926, he won an open scholarship to

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and ...

and, in 1930, was president of the

Cambridge Union The Cambridge Union Society, also known as the Cambridge Union, is a historic debating and free speech society in Cambridge, England, and the largest society in the University of Cambridge. The society was founded in 1815 making it the oldest ...

. He was treasurer, British Universities League of Nations Society and chair, Cambridge University League of Nations Union. He twice won a scholarship to the

Graduate Institute of International Studies Graduate may refer to: Education * The subject of a graduation, i.e. someone awarded an academic degree ** Alumni, a former student who has either attended or graduated from an institution * High school graduate, someone who has completed hi ...

in Geneva. He took a double first in history (1929) and law (1931) winning the Cecil Peace Prize in 1928 for a study on international arbitration.International Labour Organisation, Director-General's Office
"C. Wilfred Jenks"
9 February 2006 accessed 24 August 2011.

ILO

Upon finishing his studies at Cambridge, Jenks joined the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Geneva as a legal adviser in the Legal Division. He became Assistant Director-General, Deputy Director-General, principal Deputy Director-General and Director-General. As Director-General, he was preceded by David A. Morse and succeeded by Francis Blanchard. In 1936, he was called to the English bar by

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

. In 1944, with acting Director Edward J. Phelan, he drafted the

Declaration of Philadelphia The Declaration of Philadelphia (10 May 1944) restated the traditional objectives of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and then branched out in two new directions: the centrality of human rights to social policy, and the need for interna ...

which restated the ILO's aims and purposes, envisioning the ILO as the master economic agency among the specialised international bodies.Norman F. Dufty
"Organizational Growth and Goal Structure: The Case of the ILO"
(1972) 26 (3) ''International Organization'' 479 accessed 24 August 2011 He was part of the ILO delegation at a number of international conferences including: *

United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference The Bretton Woods Conference, formally known as the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, was the gathering of 730 delegates from all 44 allied nations at the Mount Washington Hotel, in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, United States, to ...

at Bretton Woods, 1944 *

San Francisco conference The United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO), commonly known as the San Francisco Conference, was a convention of delegates from 50 Allied nations that took place from 25 April 1945 to 26 June 1945 in San Francisco, Cal ...

which established the United Nations, 1945 * International Conference on Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, 1955 and 1958 * United Nations Conference on Law of the Sea, 1958 and 1960 * United Nations Conference on Diplomatic Intercourse and Immunities, 1961 * United Nations Conference on Law of Treaties, 1968 Jenks carried for many years the main responsibility for the ILO's work in international labour standards and human rights.

International legal scholar

Jenks was "one of the most prominent and prolific writers on international law of his time. His ... "Some constitutional problems of international organization" ... was for long the unrivalled source of instruction on that subject for professionals and academics alike." Jenks was Professor,

Hague Academy of International Law The Hague Academy of International Law () is a center for high-level education in both public and private international law housed in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. Courses are taught in English and French and, except for External ...

in 1950, 1955 and 1966. He was Storrs Lecturer in Jurisprudence,

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, 1965.

Personal and family life

In 1949, Jenks married Jane Louise Broverman of New York. They had two sons. On 9 October 1973 Jenks was attending a session of the Institut de Droit International in Rome when he had a fatal heart attack. He was buried in Geneva.

Awards and honours

C. Wilfred Jenks was awarded the following honours:"C(larence) Wilfred Jenks", Contemporary Authors Online (2002) via Gale Biography In Context (database online) accessed 24 August 2011. 1928 Cecil Peace Prize 1959 American Society of International Law award 1967 Hon LLD, University of Edinburgh 1971 Hon LLD, University of Delhi 1971 Hon LLD, Seoul National University 1971 Hon LLD, University of La Plata 1972 Hon LLD, University of Costa Rica Jenks was an honorary fellow of Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge and an honorary professor of Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos de Lima and University of Lima.

Publications

* (editor) The International Labour Code, 1939: A Systematic Arrangement of the Conventions and Recommendations Adopted by the International Labour conference, 1919-1939 (1941, 1952 revised edition: The International Labour Code, 1951: A Systematic Arrangement of the Conventions and Recommendations Adopted by the International Labour Conference, 1919-1951) * (editor) Constitutional Provisions Concerning Social and Economic Policy: An International Collection of Texts Covering 450 Countries and Other Governments (1944) * The headquarters of international institutions : a study of their location and status (1945) * The international protection of trade union freedom (1957) * The common law of mankind (1958) * Human Rights and International Labour Standards (1960) * International immunities (1961) * The proper law of international organisations (1962) * Law, freedom and welfare (1963) * International law in a changing world (1963; with others) * The prospects of international adjudication (1964) * Space law (1965) * Sovereignty within the law (1965; with Arnold Larson and others) * Law in the world community (1967) * A new world of law? A study of the creative imagination in international law (1969) * Britain and the International Labor Office (1969) * The world beyond the charter in historical perspective: a tentative synthesis of four stages of world organization (London, 1969) * Social justice in the law of nations: the ILO impact after fifty years (1970) * Orthodoxy and Innovation in the Law of Nations, Oxford University Press (1971) * The International Labour Organisation in the U.N. family (1971) * Social security as a world problem (Wellington, New Zealand, 1972) * Prosperity for welfare: social purpose in economic growth and change (1973) * Social policy in a changing world (selected lectures) (1976). Contributor to British Yearbook of International Law and to legal journals.

Bibliography

* Fiti Sinclair, Guy (2020).
C. Wilfred Jenks and the Futures of International Organizations Law
. European Journal of International Law.

References

External links

www.ilo.org
biography {{DEFAULTSORT:Jenks, C. Wilfred Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Presidents of the Cambridge Union Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies alumni International law scholars Labour law scholars International Labour Organization people 1909 births 1973 deaths British officials of the United Nations