Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 1996, publiée 85ème session CIT (1997)

Convention (n° 111) concernant la discrimination (emploi et profession), 1958 - Tchéquie (Ratification: 1993)

1. The Committee notes the information supplied in the Government's first report (which had arrived too late to be examined by the Committee at its last session), in particular the expression of the equality principle in the 1993 Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms and in the 1991 Act on Employment, and the gender-neutral and politically neutral provisions of the statutes concerning education and training, such as the School Act of 1974, amended in 1994.

2. Discrimination on the basis of political opinion. The Committee notes the Government's reference to Act No. 451 of 1991 (the Screening Act, laying down certain prerequisites for holding management functions in state bodies), which was challenged before the Constitutional Court and which was the subject of a representation under article 24 of the ILO Constitution presented by the Trade Union Association of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia (OS-CMS). In its previous observation, the Committee drew to the attention of the Government the conclusions of the committee set up to examine this representation, approved by the Governing Body at its 264th (November 1995) Session. The Governing Body committee found that there were incompatibilities between the national legislation and the Convention, in particular with relation to the Screening Act which was declared to be applicable in the Czech Republic following the dissolution of the federated Czech and Slovak Republic. It deeply regretted the extension of Act No. 451 until 31 December 2000, and invited the Government:

(i) to repeal or modify any legal provisions which are incompatible with the Convention;

(ii) to take the necessary measures, including appropriate appeal procedures, to enable workers who suffered discriminatory treatment within the meaning of Convention No. 111 to obtain redress, including reinstatement in their jobs in appropriate cases, whatever their sector of activity;

(iii) to try to obtain the cooperation of employers' and workers' organizations and other appropriate bodies, in accordance with Article 3(a) of the Convention, for the adoption and implementation of the measures recommended above and, more generally, to encourage the acceptance and application of a national policy to eliminate all discrimination within the meaning of the Convention;

(iv) to have appropriate consultation with and recourse, if necessary, to the cooperation of the Office, in carrying out the above recommendations; and

(v) to provide complete information in the reports due under article 22 of the Constitution of the ILO on the measures taken to give effect to these recommendations, in order to enable the present Committee to follow up the situation.

3. This Committee asked the Government to report in detail in 1996 and looked forward to examining any additional information the Government might wish to provide on questions covered by the representation, as well as on the application of the Convention more generally. Noting that the Government did not send a further report, the Committee can only express the hope that information on the implementation of the recommendations made following the above-mentioned representation will be provided with the Government's report on this Convention next year.

4. The Committee notes that the Government's first report also refers to Act No. 216 of 10 July 1993 which amended the 1990 Higher Education Act by transforming the employment contracts of teachers and researchers into fixed-term contracts expiring on 30 September 1994, and thus required the holding of competitions for all jobs of higher education teachers, scientific workers and managers of educational and scientific higher education establishments. This legislation was also examined in the above-mentioned representation, but the Governing Body committee considered that it did not have sufficient information to evaluate it in relation to the requirements of the Convention. The present Committee notes the Government's statement that the measure was aimed at opening chances for all teachers and citizens who had suffered discrimination on political grounds in the period prior to 1989 and at ensuring high integrity education for the new generations of students. It also notes that, at the date of the report (November 1995), 1,021 managers' jobs (5.1 per cent being filled by external candidates) and 6,236 other jobs in universities had been filled by competitions under the amendment. The Committee observes that, from the information available, Act No. 216 contains provisions linked to political opinion and it notes that the Government's report itself recognizes the internal criticism of the new recruitment procedure. The Committee thus refers the Government to the recommendations of the Governing Body Committee set out above. Noting, however, that, according to the report, a change in the present system is envisaged in the draft of a new law on higher education, due to be discussed in Parliament in 1996, the Committee requests the Government to include, in its next report, information on the parliamentary discussions. In particular, it would like to receive information on whether the debates result in the removal of the discriminatory elements from Act No. 216 and ensure that new recruitments proceed irrespective of the political opinions of candidates.

5. The Committee is addressing a request directly to the Government on certain other points.