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The Committee has noted the information provided by the Government in reply to its previous direct request. It has noted, in particular, the provisions of the Law on Civil Protection of 15 December 1998, supplied by the Government under Article 2, paragraph 2(d), of the Convention.

Freedom of career military servicemen to terminate their service. The Committee has noted that, according to section 31(2) of the Law on the Organization of the National Defence System and Military Service, 1998, the duration of a contract to be signed with officers who have graduated from the Lithuanian Military Academy is until they reach the age for their transfer to the reserve. Section 37 of the same Law stipulates that the Minister of National Defence may allow professional military servicemen to terminate their contract prior to expiration for valid reasons, and a serviceman who wilfully terminates the contract prior to expiration without the approval of the Minister is considered absent without leave and dealt with in accordance with the law.

The Committee refers in this connection to the explanations contained in paragraphs 68 and 71-72 of its 1979 General Survey on the abolition of forced labour, in which it pointed out that 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. On the other hand, the provisions excepting compulsory military service from the prohibition of forced labour under the Convention do not apply to career military service and may not be invoked to deprive persons who have voluntarily entered into an engagement 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. The Committee hopes that the necessary measures will be taken to amend the above provisions of the Law on the Organization of the National Defence System and Military Service in order to bring it into conformity with the Convention on this point. Pending the amendment, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application in practice of the abovementioned section 37 of the Law.

Article 2, paragraph 2(c). The Committee has noted from the Government’s report that in the "open-type" institutions of correctional labour convicts are allowed to work for private individuals or enterprises. The Government indicates that such labour is not compulsory and that the convicts themselves freely choose it; that it is carried out on the basis of a contract concluded between the employer and the administration of the penitentiary institution and that there are social security provisions and a possibility of supervision by the administration of conditions of work and remuneration of convicts.

The Committee requests the Government to describe the organization of convicts’ work for private individuals and enterprises and to supply specimen copies of agreements concluded between the administration of the penitentiary institution and private users of convicts’ labour. The Government is also requested to indicate any measures taken to ensure that any work or service by convicts for private parties is performed in conditions approximating a free employment relationship; such measures should include any formal consent of the person concerned, as well as - given the absence of alternative access to the free labour market - further guarantees and safeguards covering the essential elements of a free labour relationship, such as wages and social security (see also paragraphs 112­ 125 of its General Report to the 86th Session of the International Labour Conference, 1998). The Committee also repeats its request for a copy of a full updated text of the Correctional Labour Code.

Article 25. The Committee has noted the Government’s repeated statement in its reports that no legal proceedings have been instituted as a consequence of the application of this Article. The Government also refers to section 139 of the Penal Code which provides for punishment of any acts that constitute a breach of labour laws. The Committee would appreciate it if the Government would indicate whether section 139 is applicable in case of the illegal exaction of forced or compulsory labour and provide, in future reports, information on any proceedings which may have been instituted under this section and on any penalties imposed.