Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1991, published 78th ILC session (1991)

1. With reference to its observation on the Convention, the Committee notes the "Theses for the draft Constitution of Romania" prepared by the Parliamentary Commission for drafting the Constitution of Romania and transmitted by the Government to the ILO. As regards the draft text contained in the theses concerning the definition of forced labour, the Committee, while noting that forced labour is prohibited, observes that the exceptions included in the proposal are not all in conformity with the Convention. The Committee notes that, according to the draft text, "the term 'forced labour' does not include":

(a) "any work normally required of an individual under detention" (or while released on parole). The Committee refers to paragraphs 89 to 101 of its 1979 General Survey on the Abolition of Forced Labour where it indicates that compulsory labour imposed as correction or punishment falls outside the scope of the Convention only if certain conditions are met, including:

work can only be exacted as a consequence of a conviction: it follows that persons who are in detention but have not been convicted should not be obliged to perform labour; the conviction must have been made in a court of law: the exception does not apply to work imposed by administrative authorities or other non-judicial bodies. The Committee hopes that the proposal will be amended in order to come within the scope of the exception provided for in Article 2, paragraph 2(c), of the Convention.

(b) "any services of a military character". With reference to the explanations contained in paragraphs 24 to 33 and 49 to 62 of the above General Survey, the Committee recalls that work that is performed within the context of compulsory military service is excluded from the scope of the Convention only if such work is of a purely military character (Article 2, paragraph 2(a), of the Convention). The text that is to be adopted should clearly set out the purely military character of the work carried out by persons engaged in compulsory military service. (This condition does not apply to the work that may be offered to conscientious objectors in place of compulsory military service.)

(c) "any services required of citizens in the case of natural disasters or any other public danger". With reference to paragraphs 36 and 63 to 66 of the above General Survey, the Committee requests the Government to state which events would be considered to be covered by the concept of "natural disasters" or "any other public danger".

2. The Committee requests the Government to supply copies of Legislative Decrees Nos. 66 and 67/1990 respecting handicraft co-operatives and supply and credit co-operatives, to which the Government representative referred in the Conference Committee in 1990.