Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Malawi (Ratification: 1999)

The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report contains no reply to its previous comments. It hopes that the next report will include full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

Article 2 of the Convention. The Committee previously referred to the need to amend sections 18(4) of the Labour Relations (Amendment) Bill, 2006 (LRA) which provides that if an organization fails to comply with the provisions of subsection (1) (which require an organization to annually submit audited financial statements, a list of the names and postal addresses of its officers, and its number of members) after being given a reasonable opportunity to do so, the Registrar may suspend and even cancel the registration and certificate of an organization. The Committee furthermore notes that sections 18(4) and (5) provide that the Registrar may suspend and even cancel the registration and certificate of an organization which fails to comply with the requirements of section 18(1). In its last comments, the Committee had noted, in this connection, that section 18(6) of the LRA (2006) provides that an organization may appeal against a decision of the Registrar to suspend or cancel its registration and certificate of registration. Furthermore, the Committee had noted the Government’s indication that the LRA (2006) has been revised so as to allow unions to appeal decisions of the Registrar to cancel their registration. The Committee recalls that measures of suspension or dissolution by the administrative authority constitute serious infringements to the principles of freedom of association; measures of dissolution of trade union organizations should only occur in extremely serious cases and following a judicial decision. In these circumstances, the Committee once again requests the Government to indicate: (i) whether an organization’s appeal has the effect of suspending the administrative decision, pending the issuance of a final decision by the judiciary; and (ii) whether the judiciary, upon hearing an appeal, is able to deal with the substance of the case to enable them to decide whether or not the provisions pursuant to which the administrative measures in question were taken constitute a violation of the rights guaranteed by the Convention. In the event that either of these judicial safeguards against dissolution are not provided for, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to amend section 18(4), (5) and (6) of the Labour Relations (Amendment) Bill 2006 so as to bring it into full conformity with the abovementioned principle.