Interim Report - REPORT_NO58, 1962

1. 458. 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 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 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; 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 (March 1960). Further information was furnished by the Government in a communication dated 13 May 1960. At its meeting on 20 May 1960 the Committee again recommended the Governing Body to request the Government to furnish further information on certain aspects of the allegations and the Governing Body approved this recommendation at its 145th Session (May 1960). Further information was forwarded by the Government on 4 November 1960, but this was received too late to permit of its being examined by the Committee when it met on 8 November 1960, and the case was adjourned. The Government furnished further observations in a letter dated 3 January 1961. At its meeting on 23 February 1961 the Committee again recommended the Governing Body to request the Government to furnish further information on certain aspects of the allegations and the Governing Body approved this recommendation at its 148th Session (March 1961). At its meeting in May 1961 the Committee adjourned its examination of the case, as the information requested had not been received. The Government furnished further information in a letter dated 16 October 1961.
2. 459. 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.

Allegations relating to Deregistration of Trade Unions

1. 460. These allegations, already the subject of previous reports by the Committee 9, were further examined by the Committee at its meeting in February 1961. They are fully analysed in paragraphs 125 to 141 of the Committee's 52nd Report, so that the present document is confined to consideration of the aspects of these allegations which are still outstanding.
2. 461. In this connection the Committee considered a statement by the Government of Singapore, forwarded by the Government of the United Kingdom, that proceedings with regard to the refusal or cancellation of registration of trade unions in Singapore are matters within the executive purview and as such should not be left to the courts; the Government expressed the view in the said statement that " cases of appeal against the decisions of the Registrar of Trade Unions should still lie to the Minister ", but declared also that " appeals lie to the High Court from the Minister's decision in the nature of certiorari proceedings, and in that way the I.L.O. Convention [the Right of Association (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 84)] is substantially observed ".
3. 462. With respect to the Government of Singapore's statement that an appeal lies to the High Court from the Minister's decision " in the nature of certiorari proceedings ", the Committee observed, at its meeting in February 1961, that it was difficult to comment without having fuller knowledge as to how the procedure by way of certiorari operates in Singapore. Under English law, if the position had been correctly understood, a writ of certiorari is a writ proceeding from a superior court and directing a lower court before which proceedings are pending to transmit the record of proceedings to the superior court. This step is taken only when there are exceptional circumstances which cause the superior court to feel that the case will be dealt with more satisfactorily by the superior court. The procedure is not normally one of appeal but one which operates before judgment is given in the lower court concerned. Such a writ cannot be issued freely by a plaintiff in the same way as the ordinary writs used to institute court proceedings. It can be obtained through the offices of the Supreme Court only when sufficient cause is shown by a plaintiff to justify the invocation of an extraordinary remedy.
4. 463. In these circumstances the Committee considered that it was not in a position, on the basis of the information before it, to judge how far this special procedure should be regarded as giving effect, in Singapore, to the generally accepted right of trade unions, as indicated by the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, to appeal directly to the High Court, by way of normal legal procedure, from decisions of the Registrar of Trade Unions. It observed further that, although the Government of the United Kingdom had stated in its annual report for the period 1957-58 on the application of the Right of Association (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 84), in Singapore that steps were being taken to amend the legislation in accordance with the recommendation of the Committee of Experts, in the report forwarded to the Office for the period 1958-60 this possibility was negatived and the report was accompanied by the text of the Trade Unions (Amendment) Ordinance, 1959, which provides that decisions of the Minister on appeals from the Registrar " shall be final and shall not be called into question in any court ".
5. 464. The Committee therefore, in paragraph 141 of its 52nd Report, recommended the Governing Body:
6. ......................................................................................................................................................
7. (a) to draw the attention of the Government once again 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 expressed by the I.L.O. Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations that appeals against the refusal or cancellation of registration of organisations by Trade Union Registrars should lie to the courts;
8. (b) to note that the Trade Unions (Amendment) Ordinance, 1959, provides that decisions of the Minister on appeals from the Registrar shall be final and shall not be called into question in any court and to request the Government of the United Kingdom to explain the certiorari procedure by which, according to the statement of the Government of Singapore, a trade union can appeal from the decision of the Minister and how this statement is to be interpreted in the light of the said provisions of the Trade Unions (Amendment) Ordinance, 1959.
9. 465. These recommendations were approved by the Governing Body at its 148th Session (March 1961).
10. 466. In its communication dated 16 October 1961 the Government of the United Kingdom conveyed a request from the Government of Singapore that attention should be directed to the statement made by the Singapore Government observer delegation at the 45th (1961) Session of the International Labour Conference.
11. 467. The said statement, relating to the application of the Right of Association (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 84), in Singapore, is embodied in Appendix II to the Second Report of the Conference Committee on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations. The relevant passage reads as follows:
12. A Singapore Government representative made the following statement:
13. Difficulties arose in Singapore from the multiplicity of trade unions, which might be to the detriment of the workers and affect the economy. For this reason Ordinance No. 53 of 1959 provided for appeal to the Minister against refusal or cancellation of registration. Singapore was, however, keen to ensure that employers and employed alike enjoy the right to associate for all lawful purposes, as laid down in Article 2 of the Convention, and hoped to be able to meet the Committee of Experts' observations when the situation improved.
14. The Workers' and Employers' members stated that this was a serious case, which had existed since 1955. Legislation and practice were contrary to Article 2. The appeal to the Minister provided for in the ordinance of 1959 was not a sufficient guarantee. Provisions should be made for appeal to the courts.
15. In reply the Government representative stated that the Government realised the importance of measures to ensure observance of Article 2. As soon as the position improved, appropriate measures would be taken.
16. The Committee urges the Government to take measures without delay to ensure the full application of the Convention.
17. 468. The Committee observes that no reference is made to the question concerning which further information was requested in the 52nd Report of the Committee, namely the request to furnish an explanation as to the operation of the certiorari procedure previously referred to by the Government.
18. 469. In these circumstances the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
19. (a) to draw the attention of the Government once again 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 expressed by the I.L.O. Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations that appeals against the refusal or cancellation of registration of organisations by Trade Union Registrars should lie to the courts;
20. (b) to urge the Government, as did the Conference Committee on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations in June 1961, to take measures without delay to ensure the full application of the Right of Association (Non-Metropolitan Territories) Convention, 1947 (No. 84);
21. (c) to request the Government once again, having regard to the fact that the Singapore Trade Unions (Amendment) Ordinance, 1959, provides that decisions of the Minister on appeals from the Registrar shall be final and shall not be called into question in any court, to explain the certiorari procedure by which, according to the statement of the Government of Singapore, a trade union can appeal from the decision of the Minister, and how this statement is to be interpreted in the light of the said provisions of the Trade Unions (Amendment) Ordinance, 1959.
22. Allegations relating to the Arrest and Detention of Trade Unionists
23. 470. These allegations, which relate, inter alia, to the arrest in 1958 and detention without trial of 19 trade unionists, and which were the subject of previous recommendations by the Committee to the Governing Body, were further considered by the Committee at its meeting in February 1961, when the Committee submitted to the Governing Body the recommendations contained in paragraph 155 (c) and (d) of its 52nd Report, which reads as follows:
24. 155. As regards the case as a whole, the Committee recommends the Governing Body:
25. ......................................................................................................................................................
26. (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;
27. (d) to note the Government's statement that another of the 19 trade unionists referred to by the complainants has been released, and to request the Government once again to state as a matter of urgency, having regard to the above principle and to the fact that five 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.
28. 471. These recommendations were approved by the Governing Body at its 148th Session (March 1961).
29. 472. In its communication dated 16 October 1961 the Government states that two more trade unionists have been released from detention.
30. 473. 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 of fair trial enunciated in paragraph 155 (c) of the Committee's 52nd Report, to note the Government's statement that two more of the 19 trade unionists referred to by the complainants have been released and to request the Government to furnish the same information as was asked for previously in respect of the three trade unionists still under detention.