Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 2025, publiée 114ème session CIT (2026)

Convention (n° 105) sur l'abolition du travail forcé, 1957 - Monténégro (Ratification: 2006)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that the next report will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous comments.

Repetition

Article 1(a) of the Convention. Penal sanctions involving compulsory labour as a punishment for expressing political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system. The Committee recalls that penalties of imprisonment (involving compulsory prison labour by virtue of section 37 of the Law on the Execution of Criminal Sanctions) may be imposed for the offences of causing and spreading national hatred and intolerance (section 370 of the Criminal Code) and instigating panic or serious disruption of public order, including acts committed through the media or at public gatherings (section 398 of the Criminal Code).

The Committee notes the statistical information provided by the Government in its report on the judicial application of sections 370 and 398 of the Criminal Code from 2019 to 2022. It observes that cases were brought to the courts each year with the number of cases ranging from zero to 15 and resulting in a total of 10 guilty verdicts or convictions. Recalling that no penalties of imprisonment involving compulsory labour may be imposed for the expression of political views opposed to the established system, the Committee requests the Government to provide specific information on the penalties imposed for the offences under sections 370 and 398 of the Criminal Code with a description of the acts that led to the convictions so that the Committee can assess the scope of the provisions.

Article 1(d). Sanctions for participating in strikes. The Committee notes the Government’s information that no cases were brought before the courts under section 228 of the Criminal Code, during 2018 to June 2022. The Committee recalls that, under this provision of the Criminal Code, persons organizing or leading an unlawful strike shall be punished with imprisonment (involving compulsory prison labour) of up to three years, if the strike endangers, inter alia, property of high value or causes other grave consequences. In this regard, the Committee has continually emphasized that no penal sanctions should be imposed against a worker for having peacefully carried out a strike and thus for merely exercising an essential right, and therefore that measures of imprisonment should not be imposed on any account. Such sanctions could be envisaged only where, during a strike, violence against persons or property, or other serious infringements of penal law have been committed and can be imposed exclusively pursuant to legislation punishing such acts, such as the Penal Code (see 2023 General Observation on the application of the Convention). Noting that section 228 of the Criminal Code has not been applied in recent years, the Committee hopes that the Government will ensure that, both in legislation and in practice, no sanctions involving compulsory labour could be imposed for the mere fact of organizing or peacefully participating in a strike. It requests the Government to continue providing information on the application of section 228 of the Criminal Code in practice, indicating the number of cases brought before the courts, the number of convictions, the penalties imposed, and the fact that led to these convictions.