Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1993, published 80th ILC session (1993)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Bulgaria (Ratification: 1960)

The Committee notes the report of the Government and the information supplied in reply to its previous comments.

Legislative provisions concerning discrimination in employment

1. The Committee notes that the Labour Code Amendment and Supplement Act, No. 100, was adopted on 9 December 1992 and communicated to the Office in February 1993. The Committee will be able to examine it in detail only when a translation of the full text is available. Nevertheless, the Committee can already note with satisfaction that section 8(3) of the Act provides that in exercising labour rights and obligations no discrimination, privileges or restrictions shall be allowed on grounds of nationality, origin, sex, race, political convictions, religious beliefs, membership of trade unions and other social organizations and movements and social and material status, thus covering all the grounds set out in Article 1, paragraph 1(a), of the Convention including political opinion and national extraction. Constitutional Court decisions concerning equality of opportunity and treatment

2. The Committee notes from a Constitutional Court ruling (No. 8 of 27 July 1992) that under section 9 of the Preceding and Concluding Provisions of the Banks and Credit Activity Law, No. 25 of 1992, "persons who have been elected members to central, county, district, town and municipal leading bodies of the Bulgarian Communist Party, Dimitrov Communist Youth League, the Fatherland Front, the Union of Veterans in the Struggle against Fascism and Capitalism, the Bulgarian Trade Unions and the Bulgarian Agrarian Party or have been employed full time as high-ranking officials at the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party, as well as staff, and paid or non-paid collaborators of State Security may not be elected to the Banks' Boards and may not be employed under section 7" over the next five years. This provision was found by the Court to be contradictory to ILO Convention No. 111, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and to article 6(2) of the Constitution, which prohibits any privileges or restrictions of rights on specified grounds including convictions and political affiliation. The Court, holding international obligations to be indispensable to national law and to have priority over conflicting provisions of national legislation, found the above restriction of the right to hold a high-ranking position in the governing bodies of banks to constitute discrimination within the meaning of Article 1 of Convention No. 111 and thus not to be in conformity with the terms of an international agreement to which Bulgaria is a party.

3. The Committee also notes from a Constitutional Court ruling (No. 11 of 29 July 1992) that, under section 6 of the Act Amending the Pensions Act of 12 June 1992, a new section was added to the Pensions Act to exclude any duration of a person's employment in a full-time management position in specified political bodies (the Bulgarian Communist Party, the Fatherland Front, the Dimitrov Communist Youth League, the Fighters against Fascism and Capitalism) as counting for pensionable service. The Court found this section to be in violation of the guaranteed right to social security provided in article 51(1) of the Constitution. In addition to the Court's conclusion that within the effective legal framework a pension is still employment-related and thus the existence of other non-employment correlatives, characteristics or grounds for pension entitlement does not eliminate the link between employment and the social security relationship, the Court stated that in any case the general categorization of such exclusions creates an arbitrary approach that goes beyond the sphere of fairness and lawfulness.

4. The Committee notes the above two Constitutional Court decisions with interest and requests the Government, in its next report, to provide information on the implementation of these two rulings. It would also be grateful if the Government would provide copies of the two laws examined by the Court and of any other legislation which contains similar restrictions on access to employment or particular occupations or in terms and conditions of employment, as well as any relevant Court decisions concerning such legislation.

Measures directed at improving the position of the minority of Turkish origin

5. With reference to its previous observations concerning former measures aimed at suppressing the cultural identity of the minority of Turkish origin in Bulgaria, which had been the subject of comments received in 1989 from the Confederation of Turkish Labour Real Trade Unions, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the International Organization of Employers, the Committee recalls that in 1990, 1991 and 1992 it had taken note of various measures, including: the adoption of a decision by the Council of State and the Council of Ministers and a statement by the National Assembly to put an end to the above-mentioned violations of the principle of equality; the adoption of the Political and Civil Rehabilitation of Repressed Persons Act aimed at restoring the rights of persons who had been wrongfully repressed on account of their origin, political or religious convictions; and the adoption of various other Acts and programmes to enable persons who had suffered discrimination to be able to obtain redress. The Committee had asked the Government to provide further information on the implementation of the new policies and measures and on the results achieved.

6. The Committee recalls that article 36(2) of the Constitution provides that citizens whose mother tongue is not Bulgarian have the right to study and use their own language alongside the compulsory study of the Bulgarian language. It also recalls that the National Education Act of 18 October 1991 and the Council of Ministers Decree No. 232 of 29 November 1991 on mother tongue study in the municipal schools provide for the right to study one's mother tongue outside state schools and, on a test basis, as an optional subject inside municipal schools in ethnically mixed communities during the school year 1991-92. The Committee again requests the Government to provide information on the holding of such classes for Turkish-speaking students, the evaluation of the optional mother tongue courses including statistics on the number of students involved, its continuation and extension to languages other than Turkish as well as information on any other measures taken to overcome the problem of low educational levels in the Turkish communities.

7. With reference to its previous comments concerning the adoption of the Political and Civil Rehabilitation of Repressed Persons Act, on 25 June 1991, which restores the rights of persons who had been wrongfully repressed on account of their origin, political or religious convictions between September 1944 and November 1989, the Committee notes with interest the adoption of the Council of Ministers Decree (No. 139 of 21 July 1992) on the application of section 7 of the above Act and the adoption of the Council of Ministers Decree (No. 249 of 9 December 1992) on the adoption of an Ordinance relating to the application of section 4 of the above Act. According to the Government's report, the two Decrees enable the application of the Act by setting out the specific procedural requirements, the categories of compensation and the amounts of compensation which are intended to cover losses incurred in employment and occupation. The Government reports that, in order to receive compensation, persons must first apply to the appropriate ministries for attestations of their arrests, internments and sentences, then lodge written complaints with bodies of the Ministry of Finance. Furthermore, a Central Committee and regional committees for Political and Civil Rehabilitation have been established to help investigate and determine the circumstances of cases. The Committee requests the Government to supply copies of the two Decrees with its next report and to provide information on the application in practice of the Act including the number of people who have applied for compensation and the number who have received it. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate whether any measures of assistance are being given to help the repressed persons who were dismissed from their employment or occupation be reinstated or find other employment.

8. With regard to measures taken to assist persons of Turkish origin who returned to Bulgaria after having left the country as a result of the earlier policy, the Committee recalls that more than 220,000 such persons who had left the country had returned between June 1989 and June 1990 facing major problems of housing, education and employment. The Committee recalls that, following a first unsuccessful initiative to solve the social problems of the returnees, the Government had adopted a new approach through the adoption of Decree No. 170 of 30 August 1990 which was aimed at providing restitution of real estate to the Turkish people who had been forced to sell. The Government reports that, as a result of the claims of the bona fide purchasers of the real estate and their filing a case before the Constitutional Court, the Government has reversed its approach and adopted the Restitution of the Ownership of Real Estate to Bulgarian Citizens of Turkish Origin who Applied to Leave for the Republic of Turkey and Other Countries in the May-September 1989 Period Act, 1992, which is envisaged to restore the property to the purchasers and to compensate the seller returnees. The Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of the Constitutional Court decision, as well as a copy of the new Act and to indicate the manner in which the Act is being applied. It further draws the Government's attention to the provisions of Decree No. 170 which had provided for six months' compensation to those returning workers who had been dismissed from their employment and who are registered as unemployed but not receiving compensation pursuant to other laws. It requests the Government to indicate whether these provisions remain in force, and if not whether any other measures have been taken so as to continue to provide such unemployment compensation to the returnees.

9. The Committee notes from the Government's report that, as a result of exacerbated recession and rising unemployment, about 120,000 people emigrated from the country in 1990-91 and that a fresh wave of emigration to Turkey occurred in 1992. Note is also taken of the relief money paid by the Government to workers who applied to leave for Turkey. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether any special measures are being taken or are contemplated to assist persons of Turkish origin who wish to stay and work in Bulgaria, in particular the returnees, in obtaining access to vocational training, employment or to particular occupations, including any measures taken by employment placement offices. The Committee also refers to its comments below.

General measures to promote equality

10. The Government reports that increasing negative economic trends and rising unemployment make the adoption of appropriate measures to promote equal opportunity amongst various groups difficult, particularly given the manifest regional irregularity of unemployment. The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has undertaken studies on unemployment that reveal that the municipalities with ethnically mixed populations comprise the majority of those which are having the most severe economic and employment difficulties. Noting this situation, the Committee welcomes the efforts being undertaken by the Government to attempt to address the problems of particularly vulnerable groups, such as through the adoption of the basic principles of the policy of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs which specifically include special protection to ensure employment for vulnerable groups in the labour market and prohibition of discrimination in job searches; the development of the programme for literacy courses, training and employment in quarters with ethnically mixed populations in consultation with the Confederation of Labour and the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions; the programmes for restructuring and ensuring alternative work in the Madan and Rudozem Municipalities, which are ethnically mixed; the employment programme in Velingrad; and the other programmes for the disabled and young persons. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the implementation of these programmes and on their impact in reducing the disproportionate economic burdens on the racial, ethnic and religious minority groups in the country in terms of their access to vocational training, access to employment and to particular occupations, terms and conditions of work and security of employment. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate the steps taken to foster understanding and tolerance between various groups of the population.

11. The Committee notes that the Human Rights Committee has replaced the previously existing Human Rights and Ethnic Issues Committee as a body of the Grand National Assembly and that it has the main functions of reviewing bills, draft decisions, declarations and addresses, preparing reports and taking stands on them. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to submit information in future reports on the activities of the Human Rights Committee that are related to the application of the Convention.

12. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on measures taken or contemplated to promote equality of opportunity and treatment between women and men and the results obtained with regard to access to vocational training, access to employment and to particular occupations, terms and conditions of employment and security of employment.