Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1999, published 88th ILC session (2000)

The Committee notes the Government's report.

Article 1(c) of the Convention. The Committee has been commenting for a number of years on sections 1091 and 1094 of the Maritime Code. Sentences of imprisonment involving compulsory work (section 23(1) of the Penal Code) may be imposed on naval and aeronautical staff under section 1091(1), in the event of desertion if it results in considerable difficulty in the navigation service; and under section 1094(1), in the event of insubordination in a technical service of a shop or an aircraft.

The Committee has noted on many occasions the Government's statements that section 1091 and 1094 of the Maritime Code are no longer applied in practice.

The Committee notes that the Government confirms the practice in its last report but reiterates that these provisions were taken for the safety of navigation and of human life at sea and consequently the Government does not envisage the possibility of amending them. The Committee recalls that specific penalties for acts endangering the life or health of persons or the safety of the vessel or the aircraft are provided for under section 1091(3), and in the second part of section 1094(3) of the Code. As the Committee explains in paragraph 110 of its 1979 General Survey on the abolition of forced or compulsory labour, such sanctions do not fall within the scope of the Convention; in these cases however, there must exist an effective danger, not mere inconvenience. The Committee hopes the Government will be able to review its position on this question and take the measures necessary, during the current revision of the Codes, in particular the Maritime Code, to restrict the application of penalties including compulsory work to acts endangering the safety of the vessel or the life or health of persons.