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Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Cambodia (RATIFICATION: 1999)

The Committee notes the Government’s report.

Article 2 of the Convention. Right of workers and employers, without distinction whatsoever, to establish and join organizations. The Committee had previously requested the Government to amend the legislation so as to ensure that judges as well as temporarily and permanently appointed officials in the public service enjoy the right to establish and join organizations. In this respect, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that judges, temporary and permanently appointed officials in the public service are governed by separate laws of public institutions or ministries that are effective to protect their rights, and that these officials have the right, granted by law, to organize and participate in associations. In order to be able to adequately assess the matter, the Committee requests the Government to provide copies of the laws providing for the right to establish and join organizations of all the categories of public servant referred to above.

The Committee regrets that the Government has not provided information on the other points on the application of the Convention that it had previously raised. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government:

–           to specify the meaning of “civil servants of the legislative order” mentioned in section 1 of the Common Statutes for Civil Servants;

–           to provide details on the registration procedure and, in particular, to indicate whether workers’ and employers’ organizations might be refused registration;

–           to amend section 269(3) of the Labour Law, which disqualifies persons convicted of any crime from being elected to the post of responsible for the administration and management of a professional organization, as well as section 2(3) of Prakas No. 21 of 2006 on the registration of professional organizations, which provides that persons responsible for the leadership and administration of the organization should never have been convicted of any criminal acts, in order to limit this restriction to convictions clearly touching upon the integrity of the person concerned;

–           to amend section 269(4) of the Labour Law, which requires trade union members to be engaged in the profession or the job for at least one year before being elected to trade union office, either by exempting from the occupational requirement a reasonable proportion of the officers of an organization, or by admitting as candidates persons who have been engaged in the industry for less than one year and those who have previously been employed in the organization concerned;

–           to amend section 326(1), which provides that a minimum service should be arranged in the enterprise where the strike is taking place and if there is no agreement between the parties to the dispute, the Ministry of Labour shall determine the minimum services in question;

–           to amend section 326(2) of the Labour Law, which provides that workers who are required to provide minimum service and who do not appear for such work are considered guilty of serious misconduct;

–           to amend the legislation so as to ensure that any disagreement concerning the establishment of minimum services is settled by an independent body having the confidence of all the parties to the dispute and not the executive or administrative authority; and

–           to indicate whether the unions of professional organizations have the right to affiliate with international organizations, and to specify the relevant legislative provisions.

The Committee expresses the hope that the Government would provide full information on the measures taken or envisaged in respect of all the abovementioned points. Furthermore, the Committee recalls that ILO technical assistance is at its disposal and trusts that the Government will take advantage of it without delay.