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

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. 1. Freedom of state employees to leave their employment. For many years, the Committee has been noting that the legislation does not explicitly guarantee that state employees, both civilian and military, may resign from their employment within reasonable time limits. The Committee requested the Government to provide information on the manner in which requests by state employees to resign are treated in practice. The Committee notes the Government’s confirmation in its latest report that cases of the rejection of resignation requests by civilian or military employees are rare and that no recourse procedures have been lodged with the administrative tribunal for abuse of power against an implicit or explicit decision to reject a resignation request. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information in future reports on any recourse procedures lodged against a decision to reject a resignation request both with the administrative tribunals and with joint administrative commissions and, where appropriate, to provide copies thereof.

2. Trafficking in persons. The Committee observes from the information provided previously by the Government in reply to its general observation on the measures adopted to prevent, repress and punish trafficking in persons that the national legislation does not appear to contain provisions explicitly incriminating trafficking in persons. The Committee asks the Government to indicate whether specific legislation has been adopted in this respect. Please also provide information on the phenomenon of trafficking in Tunisia and, where appropriate, specify the difficulties encountered by the public authorities in apprehending and punishing those responsible for the recruitment and movement of persons with a view to the exploitation of their labour or sexual exploitation, and the measures adopted to overcome such difficulties.

Article 2(2)(a). Purely military character of work carried out in the context of compulsory military service. In its last comment, the Committee emphasized that the legislation relating to compulsory national service (Act No. 2004-1 of 14 January and Decree No. 2004-516 of 9 March 2004) is based on a concept of military service that is too broad to be covered by the exception to forced labour provided for under Article 2(2)(a) of the Convention. Accordingly, national service, the aim of which is to prepare citizens to defend their country and to participate in the global development of the country, may take the form of active military service intended to respond to the needs of the national army or the form of national service outside units of the armed forces intended to respond to overall defence needs and the imperatives of national solidarity. In this latter form, those concerned are assigned either to units of the internal security forces, or to administrations and enterprises in the context of individual assignments or within the framework of technical cooperation. Those who wish to perform national service outside the units of the armed forces submit an application to the Ministry of National Defence. The Committee acknowledges that, to a certain extent, the legislation grants conscripts the possibility of opting for work of a non-military nature in the context of national service. However, this choice is made within the context and on the basis of compulsory national service as envisaged by the law. The existence of such a choice is not sufficient to obscure the fact that the persons concerned are mobilized for one year in the framework of a statutory national service obligation, without necessarily performing work related to the need to ensure national defence, which objective is at the basis of the exception allowed by Article 2(a).

In its latest report, the Government confirms that the individual assignment of conscripts is undertaken on a voluntary basis, as it is based on a prior request by the person concerned, which has to be accepted by the administration once the needs of the national army have been met. Individuals are assigned to the administration or enterprise in which they are already engaged. They maintain their wages, subject to the contribution paid to the national service fund (30 to 50 per cent of the wage). The Committee notes this information. It once again requests the Government to indicate the number of persons who carry out their national service each year in units of the armed forces in comparison with those who carry out their service outside such units, and to specify individual assignments to technical cooperation. Please also specify for the same reference year the number of persons who submitted a request to the Ministry of National Defence to perform national service outside the units of the armed forces.

Article 2(2)(c). Community work. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that, under section 17 of the Penal Code, a sentence of community work may be carried out with charitable or aid associations, associations of benefit to the nation or environmental protection associations. It requested the Government to provide the list of associations authorized to receive persons sentenced to the penalty of community work, together with examples of the work carried out for the benefit of such associations. In its latest report, the Government indicates that there is no nominative list of associations already established. The magistrate responsible for the implementation of sentences has a certain flexibility when deciding upon the establishment in which the convict shall perform the community work so as to safeguard the rights of convicts.

The Committee recalls that, where community work may be performed for private bodies, including charitable associations or institutions, it seeks assurance that the practical arrangements for such work are sufficiently closely supervised to ensure that the work performed is of real benefit to the community and that the body for which the work is done is a non-profit-making organization. Under these conditions, the Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the courts have already handed down sentences of community work and, if so, to specify the associations which have already received persons sentenced to this penalty, together with examples of the work carried out.