Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1998, published 87th ILC session (1999)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Yemen (Ratification: 1969)

Article 1(1) and Article 2(1) and (2)(c) of the Convention. 1. In response to the Committee's earlier comments concerning Act No. 48 of 1991 on the organization of prisons, the Government indicated that no regulations concerning prison labour had been adopted. The Committee therefore reiterates its request for information on the nature of the work which may be exacted from convicts and expresses the hope that copies of any regulations issued will be supplied.

Article 2(2)(d) and (e). 2. In its earlier comments the Committee requested the Government to provide copies of legal texts allowing labour to be mobilized in an emergency. It has noted the Government's indication in its report of 1993 that no such text had been promulgated and asks the Government to communicate any such text adopted in due course, as well as any text concerning minor communal services to be exacted in the direct interest of the community.

Article 2(1). 3. In its earlier comments the Committee referred to provisions of Act No. 19 of 1991 on the public service concerning resignation from the public service. It noted that the competent authority may under section 120(c) of the Act accept or refuse such applications. The Committee has noted the Government's detailed explanations concerning resignation procedures in its report of 1993 under section 233(d) of Presidential Decree No. 122 of 1992 and asks the Government to indicate in its next report what reasons for resignation are considered acceptable by the competent authority and whether an employee can confirm an application to resign without indicating any particular reason. As regards employees of the public and mixed sectors, please supply a copy of any provisions governing resignation issued under section 3(a)(ii) of Act No. 19 of 1991.

4. The Committee has noted that section 90(4) of Act No. 67 of 1991 concerning Military Service refers to resignation as one of the grounds for termination of service of career military personnel. With reference to its earlier comments, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on provisions governing the conditions for resignation of this category of military personnel.

5. The Committee has noted the provisions of the Labour Code (Act No. 5 of 1995) concerning termination of employment. It has noted that section 35(2) of the Code lays down an exhaustive list of cases where a worker may unilaterally terminate a contract of employment without prior written notice, and section 36 lays down an exhaustive list of cases where either party to a contract of employment may terminate it with notice. Please clarify whether workers have the right to terminate a contract of employment at their own request without indicating any specific reason, simply by means of notice of reasonable length.

6. The Committee has also noted that, under section 38(2) of the Labour Code, if either party refuses to receive notice of termination of the contract, the notice may be deposited with the Ministry or one of its offices. The Committee asks the Government to indicate in its next report whether in such a case an authorization of the Ministry is required for termination of the contract, and if so what criteria are applied in the event of refusal.

Article 2(2)(c). 7. The Committee requests the Government to supply with its next report copies of the new Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure enacted in October 1994. Please also supply information on the application in practice of provisions governing prison labour, particularly as regards the nature of the work performed by persons sentenced to imprisonment.

Article 25. 8. With reference to its earlier comments, the Committee asks the Government once again to supply information on measures taken or envisaged to make the illegal exaction of forced or compulsory labour punishable as a penal offence with adequate and strictly enforced penalties.