Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 1996, publiée 85ème session CIT (1997)

The Committee notes, from the very brief report submitted by the Government, that it is proposed to respond to the Committee's requests as soon as the information the Government sought from competent bodies is obtained. It hopes that the next report will include full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

1. The Committee notes the new Constitution which entered into force on 7 January 1993 and the new Civil Service Law of 1 January 1993. While these enactments respond to a number of matters raised in its previous comments, the Committee requests the Government to provide full information in its next report on the following points which remain outstanding or which arise in the context of the new legislation.

2. The Committee notes that article 17(2) of the Constitution prohibits discrimination on the grounds of gender, race, colour, ethnic origin, religion, creed or social or economic status, whereas subparagraph (3) defines "discriminate" to mean "to give different treatment to different persons attributable only or mainly to their respective descriptions by race, place of origin, political opinions, colour, gender, occupation, religion or creed ...". It also notes that article 35(5) provides that "The State shall ... prohibit discrimination and prejudice on the grounds of place of origin, circumstances of birth, ethnic origin, gender or religion, creed or other beliefs". Observing that "political opinion", one of the grounds listed in Article 1, paragraph 1(a), of the Convention, is included in article 17(3) but not in paragraph 2 of that article, and that the phrase "other beliefs" is used in article 35(5), the Committee requests the Government to indicate whether this difference was inadvertent or aims at adding a different ground of proscribed discrimination.

3. The Committee notes that article 35(6)(b) of the Constitution provides that the State shall take appropriate measures to "achieve reasonable regional and gender balance in recruitment and appointment to public offices". It asks the Government to provide details of any measures taken in this regard, together with statistical updates indicating whether there has been, in fact, an increase in the proportion of women in public employment.

4. The Committee notes that article 191(b) of the Constitution states that no member of the public service shall be "dismissed or removed from office or reduced in rank or otherwise punished without just cause" and that sections 76 and 77 of the Civil Service Law give a general definition of misconduct and list particular types of misconduct in the civil service. The Committee asks the Government to clarify what constitutes "just cause" in relation to the application of the Convention.

5. The Committee notes that, according to article 196 of the Constitution, Parliament may legislate to give the Public Services Commission power to exercise supervisory, regulatory and consultative functions in relation to entrance and promotion examinations, recruitment and appointments to and within the public services and to establish standards and guidelines on the terms and conditions of employment in the public services. Since the Committee had, in its previous comments, noted that paragraph 125 of the 1989 Report on the Restructuring of the Public Services Commission made provision for the verification of information and/or security checks on applicants, and had therefore asked for details on these procedures in the light of Article 4 of the Convention, it requests the Government to indicate the status of the Public Service Commission's powers under the new Constitution. It would also appreciate receiving copies of any regulations or administrative instructions concerning the criteria affecting access to public employment generally, apart from civil service posts which are regulated by Part VIII of the new Civil Service Law.

6. The Committee notes that section 81(2) of the Civil Service Law provides that regulations for the conduct of disciplinary proceedings in cases of misconduct or unsatisfactory service of a civil servant should specify that no major penalty shall be imposed on a civil servant unless it has been confirmed by the appropriate authority, and that subsection (e) enables the accused in any proceeding to appeal against a decision involving the imposition of a penalty provided that it is not a decision that requires confirmation under (d). The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether any regulations have been made in accordance with section 81, and, if so, to provide a copy. It also asks the Government to clarify the nature of the confirmation required from the Civil Service Council in the case of major penalties, where it appears that no appeal is allowed (for example, whether the confirmation is meant to serve as an appeal and, if so, whether the concerned civil servant has the right to due process).

7. The Committee notes that article 216 of the Constitution provides for the creation of a Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice within six months of Parliament's first meeting after the coming into force of the Constitution. The duties of this body include "to investigate complaints concerning the functioning of the Public Services Commission, the administrative organs of the State, the armed forces, the police service and the prisons service in so far as the complaints relate to the failure to achieve a balanced structuring of those services or equal access by all to the recruitment of those services or fair administration in relation to those services" (article 218(b)) and "to investigate complaints concerning practices and actions by persons, private enterprises and other institutions where those complaints allege violations of fundamental rights and freedoms under this Constitution" (article 218(c)). The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice has been established and to supply information on any cases investigated under article 218(b) or (c) which are relevant to the elimination of discrimination in employment as laid down by the Convention.

8. In earlier requests, the Committee had requested copies of any judgement handed down by virtue of section 22(4) of the Education Act, 1961, which imposes a fine on any person who refuses a pupil entry to a school on grounds of religion, nationality, race or language of the pupil himself or one of the pupil's parents, and had asked what measures existed to ensure access to education and training without discrimination on the basis of the parents' political opinion which is not mentioned in the 1961 Act. The Committee requests the Government to indicate any texts of relevance to this point in its future reports.