Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2018, published 108th ILC session (2019)

Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) - Israel (Ratification: 1958)

Article 1(d) of the Convention. Sanctions involving compulsory labour as a punishment for having participated in strikes. For many years, the Committee has been drawing the Government’s attention to section 160 of Penal Law 5737-1977, which stipulates that: “if the Government is of the opinion that serious disturbances exist in labour relations, threatening or prejudicing the economy in Israel or trade with foreign States, it may by proclamation declare a state of emergency for the purposes of this section, and so long as such a proclamation is not revoked, a person who takes part in a lockout or strike in relation to the commercial transport of goods or conveyance of passengers in Israel or between Israel and foreign States or in the provision of a public service in Israel or incites to, aids or encourages such a lockout or strike or the continuance thereof is liable to imprisonment for one year”. Such a sanction involves an obligation to perform labour by virtue of section 48(a) of the same Law. The Government indicated that the Bill on the employment of prisoners, which was tabled before the Knesset, includes a provision stipulating that the obligatory work generally applicable to prisons shall not apply to a prisoner who is serving a sentence in respect of an offence under section 160 of the Penal Law. The Bill passed the first reading but the process was not continued because the Government fell. After a new Government was established, the process of revision had restarted. In this regard, the Committee requested the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the adoption of the Bill on the employment of prisoners.

The Committee notes the Government’s information in its report that the whole process of the law revision has to be reinitiated with the new Government. The memo of a new Bill, which includes amendments to the Penal Law, has been distributed to different ministries for comments, and is currently under review by the Ministry of Justice. Section 48 of the Penal Law 5727-1977 is proposed to be repealed by the new Bill. The Committee hopes that the new Bill repealing section 48 of the Penal Law will be adopted in the near future, in order to bring the legislation into conformity with the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any progress made in this regard, and to supply a copy of the Bill, once adopted.