Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1990, published 77th ILC session (1990)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Bulgaria (Ratification: 1932)

1. In its previous comments, the Committee referred to the provisions respecting the special labour services, and in particular the building brigades covered by section 3 of the Universal Military Service Act of 1958 and Decree No. 100 of 1954, under which young persons may be called upon to perform their military service for two years in the special labour services. The Committee noted the Government's indications that young persons receive, within this framework, a civilian vocational training corresponding to civilian qualifications and that they may, when beginning their service, declare their preferences concerning the trades that they wish to master. The Committee requested the Government to supply copies of any texts concerning the principle of choice of training in the building brigades by young persons called upon to perform their compulsory military service, including a copy of the instruction referred to by the Government, and to supply information on the work carried out by young persons who have not obtained a vocational diploma.

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report that young persons have a choice between a wide range of types of training and may express their preference at the stage of the medical examination for fitness for service; those who are assigned to the construction forces may, at their request, be assigned to training schools. Young persons who do not manage to obtain a vocational diploma receive a certificate of participation in the training courses and they may, after finishing their service in the construction forces, enrole in a vocational education centre. The Committee also examined the documents supplied by the Government, namely Decree No. 100 of 1954, as amended and the Regulations for the Educational Units/Schools of the Construction Corps engaged in training builders, fitters and technicians (the title page and page 4 of these Regulations).

The Committee notes that it is indicated on page 4 of the Regulations that the selection of students is made during their individual training on the grounds of their interests and previous experience, and that the schools are replenished according to the list of young persons selected. The Committee also notes that by virtue of Decree No. 100 the construction forces carry out economic, constructional and other tasks and that activities are organised for the ideological formation and the education of the conscripts. The Committee understands, on the basis of these texts, that only a part of the young persons recruited into these forces are selected to receive training. The Committee recalls that the Convention provides that, leaving aside the general exception respecting cases of emergency, compulsory military service is exempted from the scope of the Convention only for work of a purely military character and that restrictions on the freedom protected by the Convention are accepted only to the extent required by necessities such as fighting calamities or the exigencies of national defence. The Committee also refers to paragraphs 147 and 149 of its 1979 General Survey on the Abolition of Forced Labour in which it noted the clarification which the Conference deliberations on the Special Youth Schemes Recommendation, 1970 (No. 136), have provided concerning the relationship between the forced labour Convention and certain compulsory schemes for young persons.

The Committee requests the Government to indicate the duration of training and to specify whether it covers the whole of the two years spent in the construction forces. It also requests the Government to supply statistics on the number of young persons selected to receive vocational training in relation to those who are not selected, and the number of diplomas issued among those who have been selected. The Committee also requests the Government to supply detailed information on the nature of the activities performed by young persons who are not selected to receive vocational training. It would appreciate that the Government supply the full text of the Regulations that are applicable in this respect.

2. The Committee notes that under the provisions of Decree No. 1253 of 30 June 1989 respecting civilian mobilisation in peacetime, such mobilisation is carried out to provide the labour force and technical means that are necessary in the event of extraordinary situations or disasters which result in particular difficulties for the national economy and the country. Civilian mobilisation applies to men between 18 and 60 and women between 18 and 55 years and may take the form of call-up at the workplace or compulsory labour in another enterprise, institution or organisation under penalty of a fine in the event of refusal (sections 1 to 5 and 9 of the Decree).

The Committee refers to the explanations given in paragraphs 63 to 66 of its 1979 General Survey on the Abolition of Forced Labour in which it noted that legislation which was intended to permit the call-up of labour in exceptional circumstances is sometimes worded in terms that might permit its application in circumstances other than cases of emergency in the sense of Article 2, paragraph 2(d), of the Convention. In order to avoid any uncertainty as to the compatibility of national provisions with the applicable international standards, it should be clear from the legislation itself that the power to exact labour is to be limited to what is strictly required in order to cope with circumstances endangering the existence or well-being of the whole or part of the population. Furthermore, once emergency measures are no longer necessary, and unless they are automatically limited in duration, they should be terminated by a formal and public decision or declaration. In this particular case, the concept of extraordinary situation or emergency resulting in particular difficulties for the national economy and the country exceeds the strict framework of the concept of emergency in the sense of the Convention.

The Committee requests the Government to supply information on any application of the Decree and on the measures that have been taken or are envisaged to ensure that the circumstances set out in the legislation under which people may be called up are explicitly limited to situations that would endanger the existence or the well-being of the whole or part of the population, in accordance with Article 2, paragraph 2(d), of the Convention.

3. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the Government's statement that the conditions for termination of employment by officers and non-commissioned officers who are re-employed are governed by the Universal Military Service Act of 1958. The Committee once again requests the Government to transmit a copy of the 1958 Act, which the Government has announced that it will send, with any subsequent amendments.