Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 328, June 2002

Case No 1938 (Croatia) - Complaint date: 04-SEP-97 - Closed

Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body

1. 24. The Committee last examined this case, which concerns the division of assets and property owned by trade unions before the Second World War, at its November 2001 meeting [see 326th Report, paras. 70-72]. The Committee requested the Government, inter alia, to rapidly determine the criteria for the division of assets and property and to provide it with substantive information on developments in this respect.
2. 25. In a communication dated 25 February 2002, the Government indicates that the New Associations Act (Narodne novine, No. 88/01) entered into force on 1 January 2002. However, the provisions of the act concerning division of assets are not applicable to workers’ organizations, which are still governed by article 38 of the old Associations Act.
3. 26. The Government also insists on the fact that a working meeting was held on 5 December 2001 with representatives of namely five trade union confederations and the Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Local Self-Government. During the meeting, the Government’s representatives expressed the opinion that an appropriate act should determine the transfer of all the trade unions’ immovable assets. Following the meeting, the Government requested the trade union confederations to submit to the Office for Social Partnership a complementary list of assets and their observations on the principles regarding the criteria for the division of such assets.
4. 27. The Committee takes note of the information provided by the Government. The Committee notes that the trade unions have not yet reached agreements between themselves and regrets that neither negotiations nor agreement have taken place to determine clearly the division of the assets. Furthermore, the Committee notes that no specific time frame has been scheduled for the division and transfer of the assets. The Committee notes with regret that no significant progress has been made to date, more than four years after the filing of the complaint. Recalling that the transmission of trade union assets is an extremely serious issue for the viability and free functioning of trade unions, the Committee urges, once again, the Government to determine the criteria for the division of assets in consultation with the workers’ organizations and to fix a specific time frame for completing the division of the property. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed in this respect.