Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) - Sri Lanka (Ratification: 2003)

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report, as well as the Government’s response to the comments dated 2 August 2010, received from the Lanka Jathika Estate Workers’ Union (LJEWU), as well as to the comments made by the National Trade Union Federation (NTUF), communicated by the Government with its report.

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. Emergency regulations. In its earlier comments, the Committee referred to the Emergency (Miscellaneous Provisions and Powers) Regulations, adopted in 1989 and revised in 1994, 2000 and 2005. Referring also to its comments addressed to the Government under Convention No. 29, likewise ratified by Sri Lanka, the Committee noted that these Regulations contain various prohibitions concerning meetings, processions and publications, enforceable with sanctions of imprisonment (which involves compulsory prison labour by virtue of section 65 of the Prison Ordinance). The Committee pointed out that recourse to such exceptional powers should take place only in strict cases of emergency, and the nature and duration of the measures taken should be limited to what is strictly necessary to meet circumstances that would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population.

The Committee notes that, in response to the comments made by the LJEWU and NTUF referred to above, the Government stated that, after the end of the war, the lifting of the Emergency Regulations is desirable in the long term and will inevitably take place. The Government further stated that it will take action to lift the Emergency Regulations, when the situation is improved.

The Committee trusts that the Emergency Regulations referred to above will be lifted in the near future and that the Government will soon be in a position to provide information on the measures taken to give full effect to the provisions of Article 1(a) of the Convention.

Article 1(c). Disciplinary measures applicable to seafarers. The Committee previously noted that, under section 127(1)(ii) of the Merchant Shipping Act (No. 52 of 1971), the minister may make regulations concerning the conditions of service of those serving on board ships, including regulations providing for disciplinary offences, discipline of officers and seafarers, imposition of penalties on persons committing offences and connected procedures. Under section 127(2) of the Act, such regulations may provide for the imposition of penalties of imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years. As the Committee has noted above, sanctions of imprisonment involve compulsory prison labour, by virtue of section 65 of the Prison Ordinance. The Committee recalled that Article 1(c) expressly prohibits the use of any form of forced or compulsory labour as a means of labour discipline. As explained in paragraphs 179–181 of the Committee’s General Survey of 2007 on the eradication of forced labour, only acts which endanger the ship or the life or health of persons are excluded from the scope of the Convention.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that the Government is currently reviewing the Merchant Shipping Act with a view to ratifying the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, and that the Cabinet of Ministers has given a directive to get the legislation reviewed by the Attorney‑General before any action is taken to ratify the Convention.

 While noting this indication, the Committee hopes that the necessary measures will soon be taken with a view to amending section 127(2) of the Act, either by repealing the provisions permitting the imposition of sanctions involving compulsory labour or by restricting their application to the situations where the ship or the life or health of persons are endangered.

Article 1(c) and (d). Sanctions for breaches of labour discipline and participation in strikes in essential services. The Committee previously noted that, under section 17(2) of the Public Security Ordinance, 1947, and sections 2(2) and 4(1) of the Essential Public Services Act, 1979, persons employed in essential services who fail or refuse to attend their place of work or perform such work or those who impede, obstruct, delay or restrict the carrying on of such services, are punishable with imprisonment for a term of up to five years (which involves compulsory prison labour). Section 6 of the Essential Public Services Act, 1979, also restricts the right to strike, specifying that it shall not be a defence for such persons to prove that any act or omission constituting the offence was performed in furtherance of a strike commenced by a trade union to which they belong.

The Committee also noted, referring to its comments addressed to the Government under Convention No. 87, likewise ratified by Sri Lanka, that the Industrial Disputes Act makes punishable with sanctions of imprisonment of up to six months (involving compulsory prison labour) the participation in strike in essential industries in violation of procedural requirements to be observed in declaring strikes in such industries (sections 32(2) and 40(1)(n), read in conjunction with section 43(1) of the Act).

The Committee notes that, in response to the comments made by the LJEWU and NTUF referred to above, in which the unions considered both the Public Security Ordinance, 1947, and the Essential Public Services Act, 1979, to be obsolete, the Government states that it is necessary to examine the provisions of these enactments in the context of the situations covered by the Convention and that they will be reviewed in accordance with the Committee’s comments. The Government also indicates that the penalties in the Industrial Disputes Act are being revised by a Labour Law Reform Committee and that suitable measures would be taken to address the issues relating to sections 32(2), 40(1)(n) and 43(1) of the Act.

The Committee hopes that the above provisions concerning labour discipline and imposing restrictions on the right to strike enforceable with sanctions involving compulsory prison labour will be revised in order to bring legislation into conformity with the Convention, so that no sanctions involving compulsory labour can be imposed for disciplinary offences or participation in peaceful strikes. The Committee requests the Government to provide, in its next report, information on the progress made in this regard.