Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Malawi (Ratification: 1999)

Article 2 of the Convention. Previously, the Committee had referred to the need to amend section 18(4) of the Labour Relations (Amendment) Bill, 2006, which provides that if an organization fails to comply with the provisions of subsection (1) (which require an organization to annually submit audited financial statements, a list of the names and postal addresses of its officers, and its number of members) after being given a reasonable opportunity to do so, the Registrar may suspend and even cancel the registration and certificate of an organization. The Committee notes, in this connection, that section 18(6) of the Labour Relations (Amendment) Bill provides that an organization may appeal against a decision of the Registrar to suspend or cancel its registration and certificate of registration. The Committee further notes the Government’s indication that the Labour Relations (Amendment) Bill has been revised so as to allow unions to appeal decisions of the Registrar to cancel their registration. In these circumstances, the Committee requests the Government to indicate: (1) whether an organization’s appeal has the effect of suspending the administrative decision, pending the issuance of a final decision by the judiciary; and (2) whether the judiciary, upon hearing an appeal, is able to deal with the substance of the case to enable them to decide whether or not the provisions pursuant to which the administrative measures in question were taken constitute a violation of the rights guaranteed by the Convention. In the event that either of these judicial safeguards against dissolution are not provided for, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to amend section 18(6) of the Labour Relations (Amendment) Bill so as to bring it into full conformity with the abovementioned principle.

Article 3. The Committee had previously referred to the need to amend section 49(2) of the Labour Relations (Amendment) Bill, which provides that an employer may fairly dismiss an employee on grounds of operational requirements, notwithstanding that the operational requirements resulted from a strike undertaken in conformity with the Labour Relations Act. In this regard, the Committee notes with interest that the Government indicates that section 49(2) of the Bill has been deleted.

The Committee requests the Government to transmit the final version of the Labour Relations (Amendment) Bill with its next report.