Interim Report - Report No 64, 1962

Case No 194 (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) - Complaint date: 17-FEB-59 - Closed

1. 26. The Committee has already submitted a number of interim reports on this case to the Governing Body. At its 30th Session (February 1962) it submitted to the Governing Body the recommendations contained in paragraph 182 of its 60th Report, which reads as follows
2. 182. In all the circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to draw the attention of the Government of the United Kingdom once again to the importance which the Governing Body attaches to the principle that workers' organisations should not be liable to be dissolved or suspended by administrative authority and to the principle that appeals against the refusal or cancellation of the registration of organisations by trade union registrars should lie to the courts;
   • (b) to note the admission of the Government of Singapore, conveyed by the Government of the United Kingdom, that the procedure of certiorari in Singapore does not constitute a full right of appeal to the courts, and the statement that the Government of Singapore realises the importance of ensuring observance of Article 2 of the Right of Association (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 84), and will take appropriate measures as soon as the position in Singapore has improved;
   • (c) to urge the Government of the United Kingdom once again, as did the Conference Committee on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations in June 1961, to take measures without delay to ensure the full application of the said Convention;
   • (d) to request the Government of the United Kingdom to keep the Governing Body informed of further developments in this connection;
   • (e) to bring the above conclusions to the notice of the I.L.O. Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations;
   • (f) to take note of the Government's statement that one more of the 19 trade unionists referred to by the complainants has been released;
   • (g) to draw the attention of the Government of the United Kingdom yet again to the importance which the Governing Body attaches to the principle of prompt and fair trial by an independent and impartial judiciary in all cases, including cases in which trade unionists are charged with political or criminal offences which a government considers have no relation to their trade union functions;
   • (h) to draw the attention of the Government to its view that a situation in which two of the 19 trade unionists arrested in Singapore as long ago as 1958 have not yet been brought to trial is incompatible with the generally accepted principle enunciated in subparagraph (g) above;
   • (i) to request the Government to state as a matter of urgency, having regard to the above principle, what steps it intends to take to afford a fair trial at an early date to the two trade unionists in question or, alternatively, whether their early release is contemplated.
3. 27. The 60th Report of the Committee was adopted by the Governing Body at its 151st Session (March 1962). The recommendations and requests for further information contained in paragraph 182 thereof cited above were brought to the notice of the Government of the United Kingdom by a letter dated 16 March 1962. The Government of the United Kingdom furnished further observations in a communication dated 3 May 1962.
4. 28. The Government of the United Kingdom has ratified the Right of Association (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 84), and has declared its provisions to be applicable without modification to Singapore.

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 29. In its communication dated 3 May 1962 the Government of the United Kingdom states that, in view of the terms of paragraph 182 (c) and related subparagraphs of the 60th Report of the Committee, it thinks it desirable to reaffirm, for the avoidance of doubts, that measures to ensure the application of Convention No. 84 in Singapore are within the competence of the Government of the State of Singapore and are not a matter in which the Government of the United Kingdom would consider it appropriate to intervene. It would appear, the Government adds, that the Conference Committee on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations was aware of this situation from the observations of the observer of the Government of Singapore at the Conference who attended the meetings of the Conference Committee in June 1961. In these circumstances the conclusions contained in paragraph 182 of the 60th Report of the Committee were transmitted by the Government of the United Kingdom, as usual; to the Government of Singapore. The Government of the United Kingdom declares that, in reply, the Government of Singapore again invites attention to its previous statement contained in a letter from the Government of the United Kingdom dated 26 January 1962, to the effect that " as stated by the Singapore Government observer delegation at the 45th Session of the International Labour Conference, the Singapore Government realises the importance of ensuring observance of Article 2 of the Convention (No. 84) and will take appropriate measures as soon as the position in Singapore has improved ". This undertaking to take appropriate measures as soon as the position has improved is now reiterated by the Government of Singapore.
2. 30. The Committee considers that it is not called upon to pronounce on the issues raised by the Government of the United Kingdom with respect to the consequence of the present division of legislative responsibility between that Government and the Government of Singapore. As the Committee pointed out in an earlier case in which a government denied responsibility for acts or omissions by a provincial legislature with respect to matters within its legislative powers, that the government responsible for furnishing observations in a case being examined by the Committee is the government of the country which is a Member of the International Labour Organisation and which is responsible for the international relations of the territory to which the allegations specifically relate. While appreciating the difficulties that may be involved, the Committee can only observe that Article 2 of the Right of Association (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 84), is not being fully implemented in Singapore, because effect has not been given to the principle that appeals against the refusal or cancellation of registration of organisations by trade union registrars should lie to the courts, in spite of the statement by the Government of the United Kingdom in its annual report on the application of the Convention for the period 1957-58 that steps were being taken to amend the legislation in accordance with the recommendation of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations.
3. 31. In these circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body to draw attention once again to the importance which the Governing Body attaches to the principle that appeals against the refusal or cancellation of the registration of organisations by trade union registrars should lie to the courts; and to note the statement by the Government of the United Kingdom that the Government of Singapore realises the importance of ensuring observance of Article 2 of the Right of Association (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 84), and will take appropriate measures as soon as the position in Singapore has improved. The Committee recommends the Governing Body to express the hope that measures will be taken without delay to ensure full application of the Convention in Singapore in accordance with the principle enunciated above. Finally, the Committee recommends the Governing Body to request the Government of the United Kingdom once again to keep the Governing Body informed of further developments in this connection, and, also, to bring the above conclusions to the notice of the I.L.O. Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 32. The latest reply from the Government makes no reference to the matters covered by subparagraphs (g), (h) and (i) of paragraph 182 of the 60th Report of the Committee cited in paragraph 26 above. In these circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body to draw the attention of the Government of the United Kingdom once again to the observations made in the said subparagraphs (g) and (h) and to repeat the request for information contained in subparagraph (i).

The Committee's recommendations

1. 33. In all the circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to draw attention once again to the importance which the Governing Body attaches to the principle that appeals against the refusal or cancellation of the registration of organisations by trade union registrars should lie to the courts;
   • (b) to note the statement by the Government of the United Kingdom that the Government of Singapore realised the importance of ensuring observance of Article 2 of the Right of Association (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 84), and will take appropriate measures as soon as the position in Singapore has improved;
   • (c) to express the hope that measures will be taken without delay to ensure full application of the Convention in Singapore in accordance with the principle enunciated in subparagraph (a) above;
   • (d) to request the Government of the United Kingdom once again to keep the Governing Body informed as to further developments in this connection;
   • (e) to bring the above conclusions to the notice of the I.L.O. Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations;
   • (f) to draw attention yet again to the importance which the Governing Body attaches to the principle of prompt and fair trial by an independent and impartial judiciary in all cases, including cases in which trade unionists are charged with political or criminal offences which a government considers have no relation to their trade union functions;
   • (g) to draw attention once again to its view that a situation in which two of the 19 trade unionists arrested in Singapore as long ago as 1958 have not yet been brought to trial is incompatible with the generally accepted principle enunciated in subparagraph (f) above;
   • (h) to request the Government once again to state as a matter of urgency, having regard to the above principle, what steps it intends to take to afford a fair trial at an early date to the two trade unionists in question or, alternatively, whether their early release is contemplated.
     • Geneva, 28 May 1962. (Signed) Roberto AGO, Chairman.