Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1999, published 88th ILC session (2000)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Slovakia (Ratification: 1993)

1. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in reply to its earlier comments. It notes, in particular, the provisions of Act No. 207/1995 concerning alternative (civil) service, supplied by the Government with its report.

2. Article 2, paragraph 2(c), of the Convention. The Committee notes that under section 11 of the Ordinance of the Ministry of Justice promulgating regulations concerning execution of penal sanction of deprivation of freedom, of 6 May 1994 (Collection of Laws, No. 125/1994), convicts are under obligation to perform labour and that unjustified refusal to perform labour shall be considered as a breach of discipline. It also notes that, under the legislation in force, prisons create conditions for employment of convicts either using their own capacities or by virtue of a contract with a different business entity or organization (section 26 of Act No. 59/1965 on Execution of Incarceration, of 17 June 1965) and that in the course of such activities penitentiary institutions may cooperate with juridical and physical persons on the basis of contractual relations (section 1(1) of the Ordinance of the Ministry of Justice of 31 October 1996, Collection of Laws, No. 341/1996).

The Committee recalls that, under Article 2, paragraph 2(c), of the Convention, prisoners must not be hired to or placed at the disposal of private individuals, companies or associations. As the Committee has pointed out in paragraphs 112-125 of its General Report to the 86th Session of the International Labour Conference (1998), only when performed in conditions approximating a free employment relationship can work by prisoners for private companies be held compatible with the explicit prohibition of the Convention; this necessarily requires the formal consent of the person concerned , as well as further guarantees and safeguards covering the essential elements of a free labour relationship, such as the payment of normal wages and social security, etc.

The Committee therefore asks the Government to supply, in its next report, information on the measures taken to ensure the observance of the Convention in this regard, as well as a copy of Order No. 2/1993 of the Ministry of Justice concerning the performance of work by prisoners, to which reference is made in section 30(2) of the Ordinance of the Ministry of Justice of 27 April 1994 (Collection of Laws, No. 114/1994).

3. In its previous comments the Committee noted the Government's indication in its report received in October 1996 concerning decisions of courts of law (including the Supreme Court) involving questions relating to the application of the Convention. It reiterates its request to the Government to supply copies of these decisions.

4. The Committee in requesting the above information also draws the attention of the Government to its general observation on the Convention made in its report to the 87th Session of the International Labour Conference (1999), the Committee requests the Government to include in its next report information as to the present position in law and practice as regards:

(i) whether there are prisons administered by private concerns, profit-making or otherwise;

(ii) whether any private prison contractors deploy prisoners to work either inside or outside prison premises, either for the account of the contractor or for that of another enterprise;

(iii) whether private parties are admitted by the prison authorities into prison premises of any kind for the purpose of engaging prisoners in employment;

(iv) whether employment of prisoners outside prison premises, either for a public authority or for a private enterprise, is allowed;

(v) the conditions in which employment under any of the above conditions takes place, in respect of remuneration (indicating the level and comparing it with any minimum wage normally applicable to such work), benefits accruing (such as pension rights and workers' compensation), observance of occupational safety and health legislation and other conditions of employment (e.g. through labour inspection), and how those conditions are determined;

(vi) what the source of any remuneration is (whether from public or private funds) and for what purposes it must or may be applied (e.g. for the personal use of the prisoner or if it is subject to compulsory deductions);

(vii) for whose benefit is the product of prisoners' work and any surplus profit deriving from it, after deduction of overheads, and how it is disbursed;

(viii) how the consent of the prisoners concerned is guaranteed, so that it is free from the menace of any penalty, including any loss of privileges or other disadvantages following from a refusal to work.