Section 127p. 127

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW COMPENDIUM VOLUME II

(1) That all necessary measures are taken to safeguard the

health of the workers and to guarantee the necessary

medical care, and, in particular, (a) that the workers are

medically examined before commencing the work and at

fixed intervals during the period of service, (b) that there

is

an

adequate

medical

staff,

provided

with

the

dispensaries,

infirmaries,

hospitals

and

equipment

necessary to meet all requirements, and (c) that the

sanitary conditions of the workplaces, the supply of

drinking water, food, fuel, and cooking ustensils, and,

where necessary, of housing and clothing are satisfactory;

(2) That definite arrangements are made to ensure the

subsistence of the families of the workers, in particular by

facilitating the remittance, by a safe method, of part of

the wages to the family, at the request or with the

consent of the workers;

(3) That the journey of the workers to and from the

workplaces are made at the expense and under the

responsibility of the administration, which shall facilitate

such journeys by making the fullest use of all available

means of transport;

(4) That, in case of illness or accident causing incapacity

to work of a certain duration, the worker is repatriated at

the expense of the administration;

(5) That any worker who may wish to remain as a

voluntary worker at the end of his period of forced or

compulsory labour is permitted to do so without, for a

period of two years, losing his right to repatriation free of

expense to himself.

ARTICLE 18

1. Forced or compulsory labour for the transport of

persons or goods, such as the labour of porters or

boatmen, shall be abolished within the shortest possible

period.

Meanwhile

the

competent

authority

shall

promulgate regulations determining, inter alia , (a) that

such labour shall only be employed for the purpose of

facilitating

the

movement

of

officials

of

the

administration, when on duty, or for the transport of

Government stores, or, in cases of very urgent necessity,

the transport of persons other than officials, (b) that the

workers so employed shall be medically certified to be

physically fit, where medical examination is possible, and

that where such medical examination is not practicable

the

person

employing

such

workers

shall

be

held

responsible for ensuring that they are physically fit and

not suffering from any infectious or contagious diseases,

(c) the maximum load which these workers may carry, (d)

the maximum distance from their homes to which they

may be taken, (e) the maximum number of days per

month or other period for which they may be taken,

including the days spent in returning to their homes, and

(f) the persons entitled to demand this form of forced or

compulsory labour and the extent to which they are

entitled to demand it.

2. In fixing the maxima referred to under (c), (d ) and (e) in

the foregoing paragraph, the competent authority shall

have regard to all relevant factors, including the physical

development of the population from which the workers

are recruited, the nature of the country through which

they must travel and the climatic conditions.

3. The competent authority shall further provide that the

normal daily journey of such workers shall not exceed a

distance corresponding to an average working day of

eight hours, it being understood that account shall be

taken not only of the weight to be carried and the

distance to be covered, but also of the nature of the road,

the season and all other relevant factors, and that, where

hours of journey in excess of the normal daily journey are

exacted, they shall be remunerated at rates higher than

the normal rates.

ARTICLE 19

1. The competent authority shall only authorise recourse

to compulsory cultivation as a method of precaution

against famine or a deficiency of food supplies and

always under the condition that the food or produce shall

remain the property of the individuals or the community

producing it.

2. Nothing in this article shall be construed as abrogating

the obligation on members of a community, where

production is organised on a communal basis by virtue of

law or custom and where the procedure or any profit

accruing from the sale thereof remain the property of the

community, to perform the work demanded by the

community by virtue of law or custom.

ARTICLE 20

Collective punishment laws under which a community

may be punished for crimes committed by any of its

members

shall

not

contain

provisions for forced or

compulsory labour by the community as one of the

methods of punishment.

ARTICLE 21

Forced or compulsory labour shall not be used for work

underground in mines.

ARTICLE 22

The

annual

reports

that

Members

which ratify this

Convention agree to make to the International Labour

Office, pursuant to the provisions of article 22 of the

Constitution of the International Labour Organisation, on

the measures they have taken to give effect to the

provisions

of

this

Convention,

shall

contain

as

full

information

as

possible,

in respect of each territory

concerned, regarding the extent to which recourse has

been had to forced or compulsory labour in that territory,

the

purposes

for which it has been employed, the

sickness and death rates, hours of work, methods of

payment of wages and rates of wages, and any other

relevant information.

ARTICLE 23

1. To give effect to the provisions of this Convention the

competent authority shall issue complete and precise

regulations governing the use of forced or compulsory

labour.

2.

These

regulations

shall

contain,

inter

alia,

rules

permitting any person from whom forced or compulsory

labour is exacted to forward all complaints relative to the

conditions of labour to the authorities and ensuring that

such

complaints

will

be

examined

and

taken

into

consideration.

ARTICLE 24

Adequate measures shall in all cases be taken to ensure

that the regulations governing the employment of forced

or

compulsory

labour

are

strictly applied, either by

extending the duties of any existing labour inspectorate

which

has

been

established

for

the

inspection

of

voluntary labour to cover the inspection of forced or

compulsory labour or in some other appropriate manner.

Measures

shall

also

be

taken

to

ensure

that

the

regulations are brought to the knowledge of persons

from whom such labour is exacted.

ARTICLE 25

The illegal exaction of forced or compulsory labour shall

be punishable as a penal offence, and it shall be an

obligation on any Member ratifying this Convention to

ensure that the penalties imposed by law are really

adequate and are strictly enforced.

ARTICLE 26

1. Each Member of the International Labour Organisation

which ratifies this Convention undertakes to apply it to

the territories placed under its sovereignty, jurisdiction,

protection, suzerainty, tutelage or authority, so far as it

has the right to accept obligations affecting matters of

internal jurisdiction; provided that, if such Member may

desire to take advantage of the provisions of article 35 of

the Constitution of the International Labour Organisation,

it shall append to its ratification a declaration stating:

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