Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2002, published 91st ILC session (2003)

Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) - Iraq (Ratification: 1951)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

The Committee notes that the Government has not provided the report due under article 22 of the Constitution of the ILO. It notes that the information provided by the Government on the operation and activities of the labour inspection system is furnished under the terms "projects realized", "projects guaranteed", "projects not guaranteed", without any indication being provided as to the meaning of these expressions. It would be grateful if the Government would report in detail on the manner in which effect is given in law and practice to the provisions of the Convention, including the information required by the report form.

The Committee also draws the Government’s attention to the following points.

Staff of the labour inspectorate and coverage of needs. The Government indicates that the staff of the 50 inspection committees amounts to 52 labour inspectors, but only 30 representatives of the General Federation of Trade Unions and nine representatives of the Confederation of Industry of Iraq. Noting that, in accordance with section 116(2) of the Labour Code, inspections may only be undertaken, except in cases of emergency or necessity, by the fully constituted tripartite committee, the Committee therefore notes that only nine inspection committees can be operational simultaneously in the country, which is bound to result in practice in only a limited number of inspections in relation to the requirements of Article 16 of the Convention, under which workplaces shall be inspected as often and as thoroughly as is necessary to ensure the effective application of the relevant legal provisions.

Authority of labour inspectors. The Committee notes that although, in accordance with Article 13, paragraph 2(b), of the Convention, the inspection committee, under the terms of section 117(f) of the Labour Code, is empowered to order urgent measures in the event of imminent danger, such as the total or partial stoppage of work or the evacuation of the workplace, in contrast, the authority of labour inspectors appears to be weakened by the procedure applicable in respect of action pursuant to violations of the labour legislation, in accordance with which reports of violations have to be submitted to the hierarchical authorities so as to decide on whether they should be dealt with by the competent judicial body. The combined effect of these delays between the attestation of the violation, the judicial decision and finally the time at which the penalty is imposed, combined with the fact that the amounts of penalties do not appear to have been changed since the adoption of the Labour Code in 1987, are all factors which weaken the dissuasive nature of the action taken and penalties imposed upon those responsible for violating legal provisions respecting conditions of work and the protection of workers.

In the light of the above and noting, firstly, that the annual inspection report provided does not appear to be published as required by Article 20 and, secondly, that it does not address all the matters enumerated in Article 21, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would take the necessary measures to ensure the publication and transmission of such a report with a view to providing the Committee with a good basis for supervising the application of the Convention. It reminds the Government of the possibility of having recourse to the technical assistance of the ILO for this purpose, as well as for the appropriate amendments to the legislation to bring it into greater conformity with the Convention, particularly on the points mentioned above.