Definitive Report - Report No 353, March 2009

Case No 2621 (Lebanon) - Complaint date: 28-OCT-07 - Closed

Allegation: The complainant organization alleges that the authorities interfered in the election of officials of the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers (CGTL)

1. 1028. The Committee last examined this case at its June 2008 session and presented an interim report to the Governing Body [see 350th Report, paras 1222–1241, approved by the Governing Body at its 302nd Session].
2. 1029. The Government transmitted additional information in a communication dated 2 September 2008.
3. 1030. Lebanon has ratified the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98). It has not ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87).

A. Previous examination of the case

1. 1031. In its previous examination of the case in June 2008, the Committee made the following recommendations [see 350th Report, para. 1241]:
   • (a) The Committee requests the Government to ensure that the current legal proceedings do not in practice pose an obstacle to the functioning of the CGTL and the activities that it would like to carry out.
   • (b) The Committee expects that a judicial decision will be made in the very near future regarding the elections of representatives of the CGTL and asks the Government to keep it informed of any decision and any follow-up action taken in this regard.

B. The Government’s observations

1. 1032. In a communication dated 2 September 2008, the Government provides a copy of a court ruling on this case (Order No. 160/2008 of 27 March 2008, handed down in Beirut by the urgent applications judge).
2. 1033. The case was referred to the urgent applications judges by Mr Abd Allatif Al-Tiriaqi in his capacity as President of the Trade Union Federation of Workers and Employees of the South, and Mr Suleiman Hamdan, president of the Federation of Chemical and Like Products Workers of Lebanon, which sought, inter alia, a ruling to cancel the announcement, issued on 22 May 2007 by the leaders of the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers (CGTL), of elections to take place on 21 June 2007. The claimants also requested that the results of the CGTL leadership elections held on 21 June 2007 be declared null and void. At a subsequent hearing (on 26 July 2007), Mr Halim Elias Matar and Mr Yasser Mahmoud Ni’mah, as members of the CGTL Executive Committee, endorsed these claims and lodged an additional request for an injunction against the CGTL until a ruling could be given on the substance of the case. Mr Matar subsequently withdrew his application.
3. 1034. In Court Order No. 160/2008 of 27 March 2008, the urgent applications judge considered, first, with regard to the request to cancel the announcement of elections made on 22 May 2007 by the CGTL officers, that the court order of 21 June 2007 suspending the announcement of elections had been rendered moot, given that the elections had already taken place and the results had been registered. As regards the cancellation of the elections for CGTL officers held on 21 June 2007, the urgent applications judge ruled that the court was not competent to rule on an action that had already taken place and required no intervention by the urgent applications court in response to some imminent risk of loss or damage. Lastly, the judge considered that the application for an injunction against the CGTL was receivable in respect of form, but not connected with the principal action, and also noted the absence of any imminent risk of loss or damage; the application was accordingly rejected. The urgent applications judge in his ruling thus rejected all the claimants’ demands.

C. The Committee’s conclusions

1. 1035. The Committee recalls that, in this case, the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions (ICATU) alleged interference by the Ministry of Labour in the internal affairs of the CGTL when leadership elections were held on 21 June 2007 in the presence of an ICATU representative, in particular by issuing, one hour after the elections had finished, an interim relief order suspending the elections on the basis of a complaint lodged by two individuals including Mr Abd Allatif Al-Tiriaqi, who was described as an adviser to the Minister of Labour. The ICATU also complained that this situation had already arisen in 2005, when the same urgent actions judge had given an identical ruling to suspend elections of CGTL representatives.
2. 1036. The Committee takes note of Court Order No. 160/2008 of 27 May 2008 issued by the urgent actions judge, a copy of which has been provided by the Government. The Committee also notes that the court order in question concerns the order to suspend the election of CGTL officers held on 21 June 2007 which is the subject of the ICATU complaint. The Committee notes that the urgent actions judge on 27 March 2008 ruled that the application by Mr Abd Allatif Al-Tiriaqi and Mr Suleiman Hamdan to cancel the announcement made on 22 May 2007 for CGTL leadership elections had been rendered moot, that furthermore the court was not competent to rule on the elections which had already been held on 21 June 2007, and that an application made subsequently by Mr Yasser Mahmoud Ni’mah for an injunction against the CGTL should also be rejected on the grounds that there was no imminent risk of loss or damage.
3. 1037. The Committee notes that the procedure before the urgent actions judge has been concluded and that the Government has communicated the ruling handed down in this case.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 1038. In the light of its foregoing conclusions, the Committee invites the Governing Body to decide that this case does not call for further examination.