Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 2007, publiée 97ème session CIT (2008)

The Committee has noted with interest the information provided by the Government in its first report on the application of the Convention. It requests the Government to supply, with its next report, copies of the legislation in force in the following fields: laws and regulations governing the execution of criminal sentences; laws governing the press and other media; laws governing political parties and associations; laws governing assemblies, meetings and demonstrations. Please also provide additional information on the following points.

Article 1(a) of the Convention. Penal sanctions involving compulsory labour as a punishment for expressing political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system. The Committee notes that penalties of imprisonment (involving compulsory prison labour) may be imposed under the following provisions of the Criminal Code:

–           section 317 (instigating national, racial and religious hatred and intolerance);

–           section 343 (causing panic or serious disruption of public peace and order, including acts committed through media or at public gatherings).

The Committee observes that the above provisions of the Criminal Code provide for penal sanctions involving compulsory labour in circumstances defined in terms which are broad enough to give rise to questions about their application in practice. It recalls that sanctions involving compulsory labour are incompatible with the Convention where they enforce a prohibition of the peaceful expression of non-violent views that are critical of government policy and the established political system. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide information on the application of the above provisions in practice, supplying copies of the court decisions which could define or illustrate their scope, in order to enable the Committee to assess their conformity with the Convention.

Article 1(d). Sanctions for participating in strikes. Referring to its comments addressed to the Government under Convention No. 87, likewise ratified by Serbia, the Committee has noted that, according to section 167 of the Criminal Code, persons organizing or leading an unlawful strike shall be punished with imprisonment of up to three years (which involves compulsory prison labour), if the strike endangers, inter alia, “property of considerable extent”. The Committee draws the Government’s attention to the explanations in paragraphs 182–189 of its 2007 General Survey on the eradication of forced labour, in which it recalled that the imposition of restrictions on the right to strike enforceable with sanctions involving compulsory labour is only possible in essential services in the strict sense of the term (that is, services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population), or with respect to public servants exercising authority in the name of the State, or in situations of force majeure.

The Committee therefore hopes that measures will be taken to ensure that the application of sanctions involving compulsory prison labour under section 167 is restricted to situations endangering the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population, or to the cases of force majeure. Pending the adoption of such measures, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application of section 167 in practice, supplying copies of the court decisions and indicating the penalties imposed.