Effect given to the recommendations of the committee and the Governing Body - REPORT_NO337, June 2005

Effect given to the recommendations of the Committee and the Governing Body

1. 80. In its November 2004 meeting, the Committee made the following recommendations regarding the questions that remained pending [see 335th Report, para. 880]:
   • (a) While noting with interest the settlement reached on 10 July 2004 between the Government and the complainant organizations and in particular its clauses on salaries and deduction of trade union dues, the Committee requests the Government to indicate whether by virtue of that non-reprisal clause the sanctions (fines) on the president of COPEMH and against COPEMH and COPRUMH and the application for suspension of these organizations’ legal personality have been abandoned or set aside.
   • (b) The Committee also requests the Government to keep it informed of the result of the lawsuit by the Minister of Education against the official Nelson Edgardo Cálix for slander, libel and defamation.
   • (c) Finally, the Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the result of the application for protection of constitutional rights entered by the complainant organizations against the judgements, which, it is alleged, deny the right of these organizations to represent their members.
2. 81. In its communication dated 9 March 2005, the Government states that the Court of Tegucigalpa acquitted Mr. Nelson Cálix of the offences of slander and libel and that this ruling was subject to an appeal for review for a procedural flaw and violation of the law before the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice which has still not issued a decision on the matter. With regard to the right of the teachers’ associations to represent their members, the Government states that a ruling is pending on an amparo (enforcement of constitution rights) appeal lodged with the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court by representatives of the Association of Secondary Teachers of Honduras (COPEMH) and the Professional Association of School Teachers of Honduras (COPRUMH) against the ruling issued by the Administrative Disputes Appeal Court on 12 September 2003 which upheld the decision handed down by the Administrative Disputes Court concerning the setting aside of an administrative act applied for by the abovementioned teachers’ associations.
3. 82. The Committee takes note of this information and requests the Government to communicate the result of the abovementioned ongoing proceedings before the Criminal Chamber and the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice. The Committee also reminds the Government of its previous recommendation requesting it to indicate whether, by virtue of the non-reprisal clause contained in the settlement reached between the Government and the complainant organizations on 10 July 2004, the sanctions (fines) on the president of COPEMH and against COPRUMH and the application for suspension of these organizations’ legal personality have been abandoned or set aside.