Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2019, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Rwanda (Ratification: 1988)

The Committee notes the adoption of the new Labour Code (Law No. 66/2018 of 30 August 2018). The Committee notes that sections of the new Labour Code refer to ministerial orders, some of which have been the object of the Committee’s comments.

Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention. Right of workers, without distinction whatsoever, to establish organizations of their own choosing. Right to elect representatives freely. In its previous comments, the Committee had requested the Government to take the necessary measures, in consultation with the social partners, to amend the provisions of Ministerial Order No. 11 so as to ensure that the procedure for the registration of employers’ and workers’ organizations is fully in conformity with the Convention:

• – Judicial record. Under the terms of section 3(5) of Ministerial Order No. 11, of September 2010, an occupational organization of employers or workers, in order to be registered, has to be able to prove that its representatives have never been convicted of offences with sentences of imprisonment equal to or over six months. In the view of the Committee, conviction on account of offences the nature of which is not such as to call into question the integrity of the person concerned and is not such as to be prejudicial to the exercise of trade union functions should not constitute grounds for disqualification from holding trade union office.
• – Time limits for registration. Under the terms of section 5 of Ministerial Order No. 11, the authorities have a time limit of 90 days to process the application for the registration of a trade union. The Committee recalls that a long registration procedure is a serious obstacle to the establishment of organizations without previous authorization, in accordance with Article 2 of the Convention.

The Committee notes that the Government states that a person who leads others is required to prove his or her integrity and that, in line with the Rwandan legislation, a person who is convicted of a crime punishable by a principal penalty of imprisonment for a term of not less than six months is a person whose integrity is questionable. The Committee reiterates that the conviction for an act which, by its nature, does not call into question the integrity of the person and implies no real risk for the performance of trade union duties should not constitute grounds for exclusion from trade union office. Furthermore, legislation which establishes excessively broad ineligibility criteria, for example by means of an open-ended definition or a long list including acts which have no real connection with the qualities of integrity required for the exercise of trade union office, is incompatible with the Convention (see General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, 2012, paragraph 106). The Committee therefore requests once again that the Government take the necessary measures, in consultation with the social partners, to amend section 3(5) of Ministerial Order No. 11, in line with the above.

With regard to the time limits for registration, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that it has taken note of the concern, and that the registration period will be reduced in an ongoing revision of the Ministerial Order regarding registration of employees and employers’ organizations. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on all developments in this regard, including the amendment of section 5 of Ministerial Order No. 11.

Exclusion of categories of public servants from the right to organize. In its previous comment, the Committee had requested the Government to provide a list of categories of public servants which fall within the exclusion established in section 51 of Act No. 86/2013 issuing the General Statute of the Public Service, which recognizes the right of public servants to join any trade union of their choice, with the exception of “political office holders” and “officers of the security services”. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that it will consider the Committee’s concern in the revision of the above-mentioned Act. The Committee reiterates that the Convention sets out the right of all workers, without distinction whatsoever, including political leaders, to establish and join organizations of their own choosing, and only authorizes exemptions in relation to the police and the armed forces, and that these exceptions must, however, be construed in a restrictive manner so as not to include public servants of security related services. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide information on the specific categories of public servants excluded under section 51 of Act No. 86/2013, and on any progress made in this regard, so as to ensure that public servants, like all other workers, with the only exception of the armed forces and the police, enjoy the right to organize under the Convention.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.