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Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Algeria (RATIFICATION: 1962)

The Committee takes due note of the Government's report containing replies to the points that it raised in its previous direct request.

However, the Committee notes the content of Legislative Decree No. 92-03 of 30 December 1992 on combating subversion. While noting that most of the Decree's provisions do not fall within the scope of the protection provided for in the Convention, the Committee observes that some of them could give rise to impairment of the rights of workers' organizations to organize their activities and formulate their programme of action to defend the economic, social and occupational interests of their members, in particular by calling strikes. One such provision is section 1 which defines as subversive or terrorist acts any offences against, in particular, stability and the normal functioning of institutions, which aim to: (i) obstruct the operation of establishments providing public services; or (ii) impede traffic or freedom of movement in public places or highways, which may be punished by severe sanctions, including life imprisonment (sections 3, 4 and 5).

The Committee reminds the Government's of the importance it attaches to Article 8, paragraph 2, of the Convention which provides that national laws and regulations shall not be such as to impair, nor shall it be so applied as to impair the guarantees provided for in the Convention.

It also recalls that all penal sanctions should be proportionate to the seriousness of offences committed and that if they are imposed at all, measures of imprisonment in any case should be subject to the regular judicial control (see 1994 General Survey on Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining, paragraph 177).

The Committee asks the Government to indicate in its next report the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that the above-mentioned provisions are not so applied as to impair the guarantees provided for in the Convention.

The Committee also recalls the importance of the principle that workers and their organizations should have the possibility to strike in furtherance and defence of their economic, social and professional interests. Act No. 90-02 of 6 February 1990 establishes a prohibition of strikes where they could result in a major economic crisis (section 43), or in case of pressing economic and social necessity (section 48). The Committee stresses that, in situations like these, when strikes are limited or prohibited, workers are deprived of an essential means to further their collective claims. They should, in compensation, be able to avail themselves of the guarantees for the settlement of collective disputes. Workers and employers should be able to participate in the various stages of the procedure. Moreover, in case of a peaceable strike, workers should not be liable to imprisonment. The Committee asks the Government to provide information in its next report on any case of application of the mentioned provisions during the period under report.