Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2002, published 91st ILC session (2003)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (Ratification: 1998)

1. The Committee has noted with interest the detailed information provided by the Government in its first and second reports on the application of the Convention. It would be grateful if the Government would supply, with its next report, copies of the following legislation: the latest updated and consolidated text of the Criminal Code; the Defence Force Act and other Acts governing disciplined forces; the Emergency Powers Act and any other provisions concerning a state of emergency. The Committee also requests the Government to provide additional information on the following points:

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. The Committee has noted that, under section 123(b) of the Summary Jurisdiction Offences Ordinance (Cap. 13), every person who wanders about and sleeps or lodges in any public place, having no visible means of subsistence and not giving a satisfactory account of himself, shall be liable to a fine or to imprisonment of one month. The Committee refers to paragraphs 45 to 48 of its 1979 General Survey on the abolition of forced labour, in which it has considered that provisions relating to vagrancy and similar offences that were intended to protect society against disturbances of public order and tranquility by persons who not only habitually refuse to work but are also without any legal means of subsistence are compatible with the Convention, but penalties imposed or liable to be imposed on those who merely refuse to take an employment are contrary to the Convention, which prohibits recourse to the menace of any penalty as a means of compulsion to work. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide information on the application of the abovementioned provision in practice, including copies of any court decisions defining or illustrating its scope, so as to enable the Committee to ascertain whether this provision is applied in a manner compatible with the Convention.

Article 2(2)(a). The Committee has noted that, under section 4(3)(c) of the Constitution, the expression "forced labour" does not include any labour required of a member of a disciplined force in pursuance of his duties. It has also noted a statement in the Government’s reports that no guarantees are provided to ensure that services exacted for military purposes are used for purely military ends. The Committee recalls that, under Article 2(2)(a), compulsory military service is excluded from the Convention only if used for work of a purely military character. It therefore requests the Government to indicate measures taken or envisaged in order to ensure compliance with the Convention on this point. Please also supply copies of provisions governing alternative (non-military) service in case of persons who have conscientious objections to service as members of a naval, military or air force, to which reference is made in article 4(3)(c) of the Constitution. Please indicate any provisions applicable to military officers and other career military servicemen, as regards their right to leave the service, in time of peace, at their own request, either at certain reasonable intervals or by means of notice of reasonable length.

Article 2(2)(c). 1. The Committee has noted from article4(3)(a) of the Constitution that the expression "forced labour" does not include any labour required in consequence of the sentence or order of a court. The Committee recalls that, according to Article 2(2)(c), work can only be exacted from a person as a consequence of a conviction in a court of law. It refers to the explanations in paragraph 94 of its 1979 General Survey on the abolition of forced labour, in which it pointed out that this provision aims at ensuring that penal labour will not be imposed unless the guarantees laid down in the general principles of law recognized by the community of nations are observed, such as the presumption of innocence, equality before the law, regularity and impartiality of proceedings, independence and impartiality of courts, guarantees necessary for defence, clear definition of the offence and non-retroactivity of penal law. The Committee requests the Government to clarify the meaning and the scope of an "order of a court" (as opposed to a sentence in criminal proceedings), under which the exaction of forced labour may be required, supplying sample copies of relevant orders, and to provide information on measures taken or envisaged to ensure the observance of the Convention on this point.

2. The Committee has noted from section 36 of the Prisons Act (Cap. 281) that prisoners shall perform such labour as may be specified in Prison Rules. It has also noted that, under section 37 of the same Act, a prisoner may be employed outside prison, with the approval of the Superintendent, and put to such labour as may be specified in Prison Rules. The Committee requests the Government to indicate what guarantees are provided to ensure that prisoners are not hired to or placed at the disposal of private individuals, companies or associations, as required in Article 2, paragraph 2(c). Please also supply copies of the Prisons Rules provisions relating to the prison labour.

Article 2(2)(d). The Committee has noted the Government’s statement in the reports that no guarantees are provided to ensure that work exacted in case of emergency shall cease as soon as the circumstances that endanger the population or its normal living conditions no longer exist. The Committee refers to paragraph 36 of its 1979 General Survey on the abolition of forced labour, where it pointed out that, in order to respect the limits of this exception provided for in the Convention, the power to call up labour should be confined to genuine cases of emergency; moreover, the duration and extent of compulsory service, as well as the purpose for which it is used, should be limited to what is strictly required by the exigencies of the situation. The Committee therefore hopes that appropriate measures will be taken to ensure that, both in law and in practice, the exaction of work or service in cases of emergency will remain within these limits, and that the Government will indicate such measures in its next report.