Interim Report - Report No 47, 1961

Case No 194 (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) - Complaint date: 17-FEB-59 - Closed

1. 99. The complaint of the W.F.T.U is contained in a communication addressed directly to the I.L.O on 17 February 1959. The Government of the United Kingdom forwarded its observations by a letter dated 13 May 1959. At its meeting in Geneva on 25 and 26 May 1959 the Committee decided to request the Government to furnish further information on certain points. The Government did so by a communication dated 28 October 1959. At its meeting on 9 and 10 November 1959 the Committee decided again to request further information from the Government. The Government forwarded further information by a letter dated 12 February 1960. At its meeting on 17 and 18 February 1960 the Committee decided to request the Government to furnish further information on certain aspects of the case r and recommended the Governing Body to ask for further information in respect of other allegations. At the same time the Committee recommended the Governing Body a to dismiss allegations relating to searches of and removal of documents from trade union premises. The Governing Body approved the Committee's recommendations at its 144th Session (l-4 March 1960). Further information was furnished by the Government in a communication dated 13 May 1960.
2. 100. The Government of the United Kingdom has ratified the Right of Association (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 84), and has declared its provisions to be applicable without modification to Singapore.

125. In these circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body:

1. ......................................................................................................................................................
2. (b) to note the Government's statement that 13 of the 19 trade unionists referred to by the complainants have now been released;
3. (c) to draw the attention of the Government to the importance which the Governing Body attaches to the principle of prompt and fair trial by an independent and impartial judiciary in all cases, including cases in which trade unionists are charged with political or criminal offences which a government considers have no relation to their trade union functions;
4. (d) to request the Government to state as a matter of urgency, having regard to the above principles and to the fact that the six trade unionists are still under detention and have not been brought to trial, what steps it intends to take to afford a fair trial at an early date to the persons concerned, or, alternatively, whether their early release is contemplated.
5. 121. This recommendation having been approved by the Governing Body at its 144th Session (l-4 March 1960), the Government was requested, by a letter dated 17 March 1960, to furnish as a matter of urgency the information specified in subparagraph (d) cited above. In its letter dated 13 May 1960 the Government states that it has asked the Government of Singapore to comment on the matter.
6. 122. In these circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body to draw the attention of the Government once again to the importance which it attaches to the principle enunciated in paragraph 125 (c) of the Committee's 44th Report and to repeat the request made in paragraph 125 (d) thereof.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 123. In all the circumstances, the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
   • (a) to draw the attention of the Government to the importance which it attaches to the principle that workers' organisations should not be liable to be dissolved or suspended by administrative authority and to the principle that appeals against the refusal or cancellation of registration of organisations by trade union registrars should lie to the courts;
   • (b) to request the Government to state the precise nature of the contraventions of the Trade Unions Ordinance in respect of which each of the four trade unions named in paragraph 109 above was deregistered and, therefore, had to be dissolved;
   • (c) to draw the attention of the Government once again to the importance which the Governing Body attaches to the principle of prompt and fair trial by an independent and impartial judiciary in all cases, including cases in which trade unionists are charged with political or criminal offences which a government considers have no relation to their trade union functions;
   • (d) to request the Government once again to state as a matter of urgency, having regard to the above principles and to the fact that the six trade unionists are still under detention and have not been brought to trial, what steps it intends to take to afford a fair trial at an early date to the persons concerned, or, alternatively, whether their early release is contemplated.