Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1991, published 78th ILC session (1991)

Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) - Mauritius (Ratification: 1969)

1. Article 1(c) and (d) of the Convention. In earlier comments, the Committee referred to sections 221 to 224 and 225(a), (b), (c) and (e) of the United Kingdom Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, applicable in Mauritius by virtue of section 3(10) of the Merchant Shipping Ordinance, 1911 (Cap. 346), under which seamen may be forcibly conveyed on board ship to perform their duties and punished with a sentence of imprisonment (involving the obligation to work) for breaches of discipline, even where the offence has not endangered the safety of persons or the ship. The Committee had noted the Government's indication that the Merchant Shipping Act, 1986, had been enacted but had not yet been proclaimed and that provision was made in the new Act to comply with the Convention and to repeal the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894. The Committee notes the Government's information in its latest report that the mechanism for the implementation of the 1986 Merchant Shipping Act was being put into place and that the Act was eventually to be promulgated in December 1990. The Committee trusts that the Merchant Shipping Act, 1986, will ensure the observance of the Convention in maritime disciplinary law and hopes that the Government will soon be in a position to report its entry into force and to supply a copy of the Act as well as of the proclamation bringing it into force.

2. Article 1(d). In comments made for many years, the Committee has referred to sections 82 and 83 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1973, which empower the minister to refer any industrial dispute to compulsory arbitration, enforceable by penalties involving compulsory labour. The Committee has pointed out that these provisions are incompatible with Article 1(d) of the Convention.

The Committee notes the Government's information in its report that a special law review committee was set up to review the aforementioned Act.

Referring also to previously reported steps taken to bring the industrial relations legislation into conformity with the Convention, the Committee expresses once more the hope that action will soon be completed to ensure that compulsory arbitration enforceable with penalties involving compulsory labour is limited to services whose interruption is likely to endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population.