Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - Report No 332, November 2003

Case No 2124 (Lebanon) - Complaint date: 29-MAR-01 - Closed

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

1. 95. The Committee last examined this case at its June 2002 meeting, where it requested the Government to ensure that the principles of neutrality and non-interference by the authorities in the internal affairs of trade unions were respected and reflected in national legislation, so that in future, administrative intervention in a manner which might affect the course of trade union elections might be avoided. The Committee also requested the Government to avoid having recourse to decrees allowing interference by the authorities and to keep it informed of any steps taken in this regard [see 328th Report, para. 463].
2. 96. In a communication of 25 August 2003, the Government indicated that a dispute had broken out in March 2001 between the complainant organization and the administration of the General Confederation of Workers with regard to elections within the latter organization. The dispute was heard by the Council of State. Following this, reconciliation took place and the complainant organization withdrew the complaint it had lodged with the national judicial authorities.
3. 97. While noting this information, the Committee hopes that, in the future, the Government will exercise great restraint in relation to intervention in the internal affairs of trade unions, so that it should not do anything that might seem to favour one group within a union at the expense of another.