Solicitud directa (CEACR) - Adopción: 1997, Publicación: 86ª reunión CIT (1998)

1. Freedom of persons in the service of the State to terminate their employment. The Committee notes the provisions of Ordinance No. 006 PR/92 of 28 April 1992 issuing the general conditions of service of military personnel under which final termination of military status results from resignation, destitution, retirement or death (section 103). Under section 104, the initiative for resignation lies with the member of the armed forces and will be accepted (section 105) only "for exceptional reasons when the member has not reached the end of the commitment required for entrance to military training schools" and when he has "received specialized training and has not reached the end of the period during which he undertook to remain in service". Section 93(2) provides that, at his request, the member of the armed forces is retired only if the time during which he has undertaken to remain in service after specialized training has expired.

The Committee reminds the Government that the legal provisions preventing a worker engaged for an indeterminate period from terminating his employment with reasonable notice have the effect of transforming a contractual relationship based on the will of the parties into a service exacted by the law and are incompatible with the Conventions on forced labour. Furthermore, the Committee refers the Government to paragraph 72 of the General Survey on the abolition of forced labour which lays down that career members of the armed forces have the right to leave the service in peacetime within a reasonable period, either at specified intervals, or with previous notice, or with the possibility of reimbursing the cost of training in proportion to the remaining period of the engagement.

The Committee requests the Government to supply information on the application in practice of section 105 on the resignation of career members of the armed forces, specifically in regard to the length of engagement required for entrance to the military training college and the period required after receiving specialized training.

2. The Committee also refers to section 61 of Ordinance No. 006 of 1992 which lays down that the conditions of recruitment to the reserve officer corps, of service under a contract, of termination of contract, of departure on expiry of the contract and the associated rights are stipulated by the special statute on reserve members of the armed forces. The Committee requests the Government to supply a copy of this instrument.