Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1997, published 86th ILC session (1998)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Azerbaijan (Ratification: 1992)

The Committee notes with interest the information provided by the Government in its first and second reports on the application of the Convention. It would be grateful if the Government would supply, with its next report, a copy of a complete text of the Act on Individual Labour Contracts, of 27 July 1996, to which the Government referred in its latest report. Please also provide additional information on the following points:

Article 1, paragraph 1, of the Convention. The Committee notes that section 1, paragraph 2, of the Act on Employment, 1991, prohibits any form of compulsion to work and stipulates that the fact that a person is unemployed may not serve as grounds for instituting administrative, criminal or other proceedings against that person. The Committee also notes that section 215-1 of the Criminal Code provides for penal sanctions for vagrancy, begging and other parasitic ways of life. It would be grateful if the Government would provide, in its next report, information on the application in practice of this section of the Criminal Code in order to clarify the meaning of the expression "other parasitic ways of life" and to enable the Committee to evaluate its interpretation (for example, to see whether it is interpreted so as to cover all those who do not work regularly or refuse to work, or only persons engaged in unlawful activities) with a view to drawing a conclusion about its conformity to the Convention.

Article 2, paragraph 2(a). The Committee notes that article 35, paragraph V, of the Constitution excludes from the prohibition of forced labour work or service exacted in the course of compulsory military service. It also notes section 9(1) of the Act on the Status of Military Personnel, 1991, according to which military servicemen, during the period of their service, may be made to perform work or other tasks not related to military service, in accordance with the procedure laid down by the President of the Azerbaijan Republic. Recalling that, under this Article of the Convention, work or service exacted in virtue of compulsory military service laws may only be excluded from the prohibition of forced labour if such work or service is of a purely military character, the Committee asks the Government to indicate whether any provisions, by-laws or regulations, have been adopted under the above-mentioned section 9(1). In the affirmative, please supply copies, as well as information on the practical application of these provisions. It also would be grateful if the Government would indicate, in its next report, what guarantees are provided to ensure that services exacted during military service are used for purely military ends.

Article 2, paragraph 2(b). Please indicate any work or service (other than compulsory military service or work or service required in case of emergency) which may be exacted as normal civic obligations of the citizens of your country.

Article 2, paragraph 2(c). The Committee would be grateful if the Government would supply, with its next report, copies of an up-to-date text of the Correctional Labour Code and the texts of any other laws and regulations in force concerning prison labour. Please indicate whether prison labour in the country must be in all cases performed in prisons or in enterprises belonging to the executive penal system or in other state-owned enterprises, under the supervision and control of a public authority, and what guarantees are provided to ensure that convicted prisoners are not hired to or placed at the disposal of private individuals, companies or associations.

Article 2, paragraph 2(d). The Committee notes that article 35, paragraph V, of the Constitution and section 8, paragraph 2, of the Act on Individual Labour Contracts provide for an exception from the general prohibition of forced labour during a state of emergency or martial law. Please indicate whether any special legislation concerning a state of emergency has been adopted or is to be adopted under these provisions. Please also state what guarantees are provided to ensure that the power to call up labour during the state of emergency is limited to what is strictly required by the exigencies of the situation and that work exacted in case of emergency shall cease as soon as the circumstances that endanger the population or its normal living conditions no longer exist.

Article 2, paragraph 2(e). Please indicate whether minor communal services may be exacted, in the direct interest of the community, as normal civic obligations of its members and, if so, whether the members of the community or their direct representatives have the right to be consulted in regard to the need for such services.

Article 25. The Committee notes that section 8, paragraph 1, of the Act on Individual Labour Contracts provides that persons guilty of the forced exaction of labour from a worker are subject to legal responsibility in accordance with the established procedure. Please indicate whether the illegal exaction of forced or compulsory labour is punishable as a penal offence. Please also furnish information on any legal proceedings which have been instituted as a consequence of the illegal exaction of forced or compulsory labour and on any penalties imposed.