Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

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

The Committee notes with regret that no report has been received from the Government. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the following matters raised in its previous direct request:

Article 2, paragraph 2(c), of the Convention. The Committee previously noted 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 noted 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 has noted the Government’s indications in its latest report that, since November 1996, there has been no employment of prisoners by state-owned companies (in the sense of prisoners being included on the employer’s staff) because of a lack of interest of these companies to employ prisoners. As regards cooperation of prison authorities with juridical and physical persons, including the rendering to them of services in the form of the prisoners’ labour, the Government indicates that such activities are carried out on the basis of a contract between the prison establishments and private parties; the work of prisoners is performed under permanent supervision by prison services and the role of employer in relation to prisoners is performed by the prison administration. The Government considers that in this situation the prisoner’s consent to perform labour is not needed.

While noting this information, the Committee recalls that, under Article 2, paragraph 2(c), of the Convention, work or service exacted from any person as a consequence of a conviction in a court of law is excluded from the scope of the Convention if two conditions are met, namely: "… that the said work or service is carried out under the supervision and control of a public authority and that the said person is not hired to or placed at the disposal of private individuals, companies or associations".

The Committee has always made it clear that the two conditions are cumulative and apply independently, i.e. the fact that the prisoner remains at all times under the supervision and control of a public authority does not in itself dispense the government from fulfilling the second condition, namely that the person is not hired to or placed at the disposal of private individuals, companies or associations (see paragraph 119 of the Committee’s General Report to the 89th Session of the International Labour Conference, 2001). As regards the meaning of the terms "hired to or placed at the disposal of", the Committee refers to paragraphs 96 and 121-123 of the abovementioned General Report.

The Committee therefore requests the Government to describe the organization of prisoners’ work for private persons and entities, both inside and outside prison premises and to supply specimen copies of agreements concluded between prison authorities and private users of prison labour. The Government is also requested to indicate any measures taken to ensure that any work or service by prisoners for private persons is performed in conditions approximating a free employment relationship; such measures should include the formal consent of the person concerned, as well as - given the absence of alternative access to the free labour market - further guarantees and safeguards covering the essential elements of a free labour relationship, such as wages and social security (see also paragraphs 112-125 of the Committee’s General Report to the 86th Session of the International Labour Conference, 1998).

The Committee hopes that the necessary measures will be taken by the Government to ensure the observance of the Convention in this regard.