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- 1. The Committee on Freedom of Association met at the International Labour Office, Geneva, on 26 June 1953, under the chairmanship of Mr. Paul Ramadier, former Chairman of the Governing Body and formerly Prime Minister of France.
- 2. The Committee took note of a telegram of 23 June 1953 from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Czechoslovakia to the Director-General of the I.L.O, received subsequently to the adoption by the Committee of its eighth report formulating its recommendations to the Governing Body concerning the case relating to Czechoslovakia.
- 3. The text of this telegram is as follows:
- Mr. David A. Morse,
- Director-General,
- International Labour Office,
- Geneva.
- The Czechoslovak Government does not consider the Fact-Finding and Conciliation Commission of the International Labour Organisation as competent and in view of its composition as qualified to act independently on allegations regarding infringements of trade union rights. The Czechoslovak Government already declared its position in this matter in the statement of its representative at the 12th Session of the Economic and Social Council which I would reiterate requesting you to take note of this and to inform the pertinent body accordingly.
- (Signed) VACLAV DAVID, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czechoslovak Republic.
- 4. By this telegram the Czechoslovak Government formally denies the competence of the Fact-Finding and Conciliation Commission and refuses for this reason to consent to the case relating to Czechoslovakia being referred to the Commission.
- 5. The Governing Body will recall that the Committee on Freedom of Association has already had occasion in an earlier case (Case No. 12, Argentine Republic), to consider a reservation made by a government concerning the competence of the I.L.O to examine allegations concerning trade union rights. In this case, the Committee expressed the view that it was not called upon to examine further the question of the competence of the I.L.O in matters of examination of allegations concerning infringements of freedom of association which might be committed in countries which are Members of the I.L.O in view of the fact that this problem had already been the subject of full discussion at the 33rd Session of the International Labour Conference in 1950, at which session the Conference decided to approve the decisions of the Governing Body and of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations concerning the establishment of a procedure of fact-finding and conciliation in matters of freedom of association.
- 6. As is pointed out in paragraph 83 of the Committee's eighth report, no complaint can be referred to the Fact-Finding Commission without the consent of the government concerned unless it is made under article 26 of the Constitution and relates to the application of a Convention ratified by a member State.
- 7. In view of the fact that the Czechoslovak Government refuses to give its consent to the case relating to it being referred to the Fact-Finding and Conciliation Commission, the Committee considers that the Governing Body should, in accordance with the procedure in force, " give consideration to such refusal with a view to taking any appropriate alternative action designed to safeguard the rights relating to freedom of association involved in the particular case, including measures to give full publicity to charges made, together with any comments of the government concerned, and to that government's refusal to co-operate in ascertaining the facts and in any measures of conciliation ".
- 8. In these circumstances, the Committee considers that it must maintain the recommendations which it submitted to the Governing Body in paragraph 84 of its eighth report.
