Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

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

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It notes nonetheless the Government’s response to the 2014 observations of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) which refer to the matters examined by the Committee.

Article 3 of the Convention. Right of organizations to freely organize their activities and formulate their programmes. In its previous comments, the Committee had requested the Government to provide information on any development concerning the establishment and composition of the subcommittee of the Tripartite Labour Advisory Council and the advancement of its work on the review of the final version of the Labour Relations (Amendment) Bill (LRA Bill), notably with regard to the establishment of the list of essential services, as well as to transmit the final version of the LRA Bill. The Committee notes that in its reply to the ITUC’s observations, the Government indicates that, preliminary work being concluded, the process of the drawing up of a list of essential services is now under way, and that the social partners have been asked to consult their constituents, after which a tripartite meeting will be convened to agree on the list. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the outcome of the tripartite meeting and expects that the list of essential services will be limited to those services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population, and that adequate protection will be afforded to the affected workers so as to compensate for the restrictions imposed on their freedom of action. The Committee requests the Government to transmit the final version of the LRA Bill.

Article 4. Dissolution or suspension of organizations by administrative authority. The Committee previously referred more than once to the need to amend section 18(4) of the LRA Bill 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 had furthermore noted that section 18(4) and (5) provides 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) and had noted, in this connection, that section 18(6) of the LRA Bill provides that an organization may appeal against a decision of the Registrar to suspend or cancel its registration and certificate of registration. The Committee had requested 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 and 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. The Committee had considered that in the event that either of these judicial safeguards against dissolution is not provided for, the Government should take the necessary measures to amend section 18(4), (5) and (6) of the LRA Bill so that measures of dissolution of trade union organizations only occur in extremely serious cases and following a judicial decision. In the absence of any new information, the Committee reiterates its previous request and expects that the Government will take whatever measures are necessary to bring section 18(4), (5) and (6) into conformity with the Convention.