CMNT_TITLE

Repetition

Article 1(a) of the Convention. Penalties involving compulsory labour as a punishment for expressing political views or views ideologically opposed to the established political, social or economic system. In its earlier comments, the Committee requested the Government to provide information on the application in practice of section 268 (incitement to agitation against the law or authorities), section 269 (agitation against communities) and section 270 (disturbance of the public order by openly declaring false facts or by spreading rumours) of the Criminal Code of 1978 which allow for the imposition of penalties of imprisonment involving compulsory labour.

The Committee notes that the Criminal Code of 2012 which entered into force on 1 July 2013 repealed the Criminal Code of 1978. The Committee notes, however, that the Criminal Code of 2012 also imposes sanctions of imprisonment ranging from one to three years (which involve an obligation to perform labour, under section 33(1)(d) of Law-Decree No. 11 of 1979) in circumstances covered by the Convention, namely defamation and slander (sections 226 and 227); open denial of Nazi crimes and Communist crimes (section 333-1); incitement against a community (section 332); blasphemy of a national symbol (section 334); incitement against a decree of authority (section 336); scaremongering or uttering, publishing a false statement to violate public order (section 337); and stating or disseminating any untrue fact to disturb public peace (section 338). The Committee notes the Government’s reference to section 33(4) of the Criminal Code of 2012 according to which the court may, for offences which carry a maximum sentence of three years of imprisonment, substitute the term of imprisonment by other sanctions such as community service work, custodial arrest, fine, driving ban or combination of both. Section 47 of the Criminal Code further states that the person sentenced to community service is obliged to perform the work prescribed. The Committee recalls that sanctions involving compulsory labour, including community service are incompatible with Article 1(a) of the Convention where they enforce a prohibition of the peaceful expression of non-violent views or of opposition to the established political, social or economic system. It draws the Government’s attention to the fact that the above penal provisions are worded in terms broad enough to lend themselves to the application as a means of punishment for peacefully expressing political views and, in so far as they are enforceable with sanctions of imprisonment which can involve compulsory labour, they may fall within the scope of the Convention. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary measures, both in law and in practice, to ensure that no penalties involving compulsory labour or community service may be imposed for the peaceful expression of political views opposed to the established system. In the meantime, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application of sections 226–227, 333-1, 332, 334, 336–338 of the Criminal Code in practice, supplying copies of the court decisions defining or illustrating their scope.