Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - French Polynesia

Article 2(2)(c) of the Convention. Prison labour hired to private enterprises. The Committee previously recalled that, to be compatible with the Convention, prisoners’ work for private enterprises must be carried out under conditions that are similar to those of a free working relationship, implying the consent of the prisoner and a certain number of safeguards ensuring that this work is carried out in conditions which approximate a free labour relationship.

a) Free consent to work. The Committee notes that section 717-3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which contains the principle of voluntariness of prison work, was made applicable in French Polynesia under section 3 of Decree No. 2009-537 of 14 May 2009. However, sections D.P. 98 and D.P. 99 of the Code of Criminal Procedure applicable in French Polynesia, based on Decree No. 95-300 of 17 March 1995, seem to imply that prison work is compulsory except for persons who have not been sentenced; debtors; prisoners following a course of education or vocational training; those medically certified as unfit to work; and convicted prisoners subject to a special regime (this is confirmed by a reading a contrario of section D.P. 493, clause 2).

The Government previously indicated that any amendment to the regulations on prison work was a matter for the State, and that French Polynesia would ask the State to envisage bringing the regulations in force in French Polynesia into line with those of metropolitan France with respect to prison work. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken to ensure that the voluntary nature of prison work is unequivocally reflected in the legislation applicable on the territory of French Polynesia.

b) Conditions of work approximating those of a free labour relationship. The Committee had noted that in metropolitan France, under section D102, paragraph 2, of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the organization, methods and remuneration of work should be as close as possible to those of external occupational activities with a view to preparing prisoners for normal conditions of free work. The Committee had noted that these provisions were absent from the regulatory part of the Code of Criminal Procedure applicable in French Polynesia.

The Committee notes that, according to the Government, no text has been adopted by the High Commissioner of the Republic under section D.P. 104 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to establish the clauses and general working conditions for work being contracted out inside prisons. Furthermore, the Committee notes the adoption, on 13 October 2009, of the new Prison Act which, subject to certain adjustments, is applicable to French Polynesia (section 99). The Committee notes that, according to section 33, the participation of prisoners in occupational activities organized in prisons is governed by a tender document drafted by the prison administration, and that the prisoners’ remuneration may not be lower than a rate fixed by decree and indexed according to the minimum wage established locally by the competent authorities of French Polynesia (section 57). The Committee requests the Government to specify if, on the one hand, the High Commissioner of the Republic has established general terms and conditions of work contracted out inside prison establishments and, if on the other hand, the decree establishing the hourly pay rates of prisoners has been adopted; if so, the Government is requested to send a copy of the relevant texts. It is also asked to continue sending information on the number of prisoners working for private enterprises, the nature of the work carried out and the hourly pay rates.