Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2006, published 96th ILC session (2007)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Bahrain (Ratification: 1981)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report contains no reply to previous comments. It hopes that the next report will include full information on the following matters raised in its previous direct request:

Article 1(1) and Article 2(1) of the Convention

1. Freedom of civil servants to leave the service of the State. The Committee previously noted the provision of section 293(1) of the Penal Code which provides for penalties of imprisonment “when three or more civil servants abandon their work, even in the form of resignation, if they do so by common accord with a view to achieving a common objective”. This provision is also applicable to persons who are not civil servants, but who perform work related to the public service (section 297 of the Penal Code). The Committee pointed out that the prohibition from resigning, as set out in the above provisions, namely under menace of imprisonment, places a constraint upon the persons concerned to continue working. The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its latest report that the body of legislation as a whole is being currently re-examined within the framework of the legislative reform project of the King, and that the revision of sections 293 and 297 could be undertaken in this context, taking due account of the provisions of the Convention.

The Committee expresses firm hope that measures will be taken, in the course of the legislative reform, to bring legislation into conformity with the Convention. It also refers in this connection to its comments addressed to the Government under Convention No. 105, likewise ratified by Bahrain.

2. Freedom of career members of the armed forces to leave their service. The Committee previously noted that, under section 4 of Legislative Decree No. 16 of 1977 governing the service of military officers in the Defense Force of Bahrain, officers undertake to serve in for an uninterrupted period of 15 years, during which they do not have the right to resign. Under section 123 of the Decree, any officer who submits a resignation is not entitled to leave the service before it is accepted. The Committee also noted that, under sections 92 and 47(a) of Legislative Decree No. 23 of 1979 governing the service of rank-and-file members of the armed forces, such members of the armed forces who submit their resignation are not entitled to leave their service until the resignation is accepted, under penalty of disciplinary sanctions imposed by the commanding officer or military tribunals (section 49(a) and (b)).

While noting the Government’s views expressed in the report that such a lengthy period of an uninterrupted service of officers can be explained by the high cost of military training received by the officers, the Committee again recalls, referring also to paragraphs 33 and 72 of its General Survey of 1979 on the abolition of forced labour, that persons who have voluntarily entered into an engagement cannot be deprived of the right to leave the service in peacetime within a reasonable period, either at specified intervals, or with previous notice, subject to the conditions which may normally be required to ensure the continuity of the service and also taking into account the possibility of proportional reimbursement of the cost of training incurred. As the Committee pointed out in paragraph 68 of the above General Survey, the effect of statutory provisions preventing termination of employment of indefinite duration by means of notice of reasonable length is to turn a contractual relationship based on the will of the parties into service by compulsion of law, and is thus incompatible with the Convention.

The Committee therefore hopes that measures will be taken to ensure that career members of the armed forces will fully enjoy the right to leave their service in peacetime at their own request within a reasonable period, either at specified intervals, or with previous notice, in conformity with the Convention. Pending the adoption of such measures, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the numbers of the applications to resign accepted or refused, indicating in particular the reasons for refusal.

Article 2(2)(d). The Committee again requests the Government to attach to future reports copies of any laws or regulations respecting the performance of work in the event of national emergencies adopted under article 13(c) of the Constitution of 14 February 2002.