What’s in today’s article?

• Why in the News?
• About International Labour Organisation
• Objectives of ILO
• Functions of ILO
• Membership of ILO
• Core Conventions of the ILO
• News Summary
• Forced Labour in India

Why in the News?

A study by the International Labour Organization (ILO), released in Geneva has found that forced labour generates illegal profits worth $36 billion per year.

About International Labour Organisation

• The ILO was created in 1919, as part of the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I, to reflect the belief that universal and lasting peace can be accomplished only if it’s based on social justice.
• In 1946, the ILO became a specialized agency of the United Nations.
• The ILO is devoted to promoting social justice and internationally recognized human and labour rights, pursuing its founding mission that labour peace is essential to prosperity.
• Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland

Objectives of ILO

The ILO has four strategic objectives:

• Promote and realize standards and fundamental principles and rights at work,
• Create greater opportunities for women and men to decent employment and income,
• Enhance the coverage and effectiveness of social protection for all, and
• Strengthen tripartism and social dialogue.

Functions of ILO

• Creation of coordinated policies and programs, directed at solving social and labour issues.
• Adoption of international labour standards in the form of conventions and recommendations and control over their implementation.
• Assistance to member-states in solving social and labour problems.
• Human rights protection (the right to work, freedom of association, collective negotiations, protection against forced labour, protection against discrimination, etc.).
• Research and publication of works on social and labour issues.

Membership of ILO

• The ILO has 187 state members.
• India is a founding member of the ILO and it has been a permanent member of the ILO Governing Body since 1922.
• The ILO constitution permits any member of the UN to become a member of the ILO.
• To gain membership, a nation must inform the director-general that it accepts all the obligations of the ILO constitution.

Core Conventions of the ILO

• The ILO Governing Body had initially identified eight “fundamental” Conventions, covering subjects that were considered to be fundamental principles and rights at work.
• These 8 core conventions are:
  • Forced Labour Convention
  • Abolition of Forced Labour Convention
  • Equal Remuneration Convention
  • Discrimination (Employment Occupation) Convention
  • Minimum Age Convention
  • Worst forms of Child Labour Convention
  • Freedom of Association and Protection of Right to Organised Convention
  • Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention

News Summary

• A study by the International Labour Organization (ILO) has found that forced labour generates illegal profits worth $36 billion per year.
• For the study, surveys have been conducted among workers, including Indian workers in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
• The report, titled ‘Profits and Poverty: The economics of forced labour’, also estimates that traffickers and criminals are generating close to $10,000 per victim, up from $8,269 (adjusted for inflation) a decade ago.
• The report also said forced commercial sexual exploitation accounts for more than two-thirds (73%) of the total illegal profits, despite accounting for only 27% of the total number of victims in privately imposed labour.
• There were 27.6 million people engaged in forced labour on any given day in 2021, the report said, meaning 3.5 people for every 1,000 people in the world.
• The report also stresses the urgent need for investment in enforcement measures to stem illegal profit flows and hold perpetrators accountable.
• It has recommended for strengthening legal frameworks, providing training for enforcement officials extending labour inspection into high-risk sectors, and better coordination between labour and criminal law enforcement.

Forced Labour in India

• Article 23 of the Constitution of India- Prohibition of Traffic in Human Beings and Forced Labour provides that traffic in human beings and beggar and other similar forms of forced labour are prohibited, and any contravention of this provision shall be an offence punishable by the law.
• The National Human Rights Commission of India defines bonded labour as a form of slavery known as debt bondage, which has persisted for centuries.
• Bonded labour is a form of modern slavery which has been illegal in India since 1976, when the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act was passed.
• Though it was declared illegal, each year hundreds of fresh cases of bonded labour and trafficking for work are reported.
• In 2021, around 11 million people in India were in modern slavery, which includes forced labour, debt bondage, forced marriage, other slavery and slavery-like practices, and human trafficking
• In July 2016, the Union government told Parliament that in its 15-year vision to achieve “total abolition of bonded labour”, it would identify, release and rehabilitate around 18.4 million bonded labourers by 2030.
• Union government data show that 315,302 people were released from bonded labour in over four decades between 1978 and January 2023, of which 94% have been rehabilitated.

Q1. What do you mean by Bonded Labour?

A person becomes a bonded labourer when their labour is demanded as a means of repayment for a loan. The person is then tricked or trapped into working for very little or no pay. Bonded labour is prohibited in India by law vide Articles 21 and 23 of the Constitution.

Q2. What does Article 21 say?

According to Article 21: “Protection of Life and Personal Liberty: No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.” This fundamental right is available to every person, citizens and foreigners alike.

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in news?
• Political System of Hong Kong
• Background - 2019 pro-democracy protests and a security law
• What is Safeguarding National Security Bill?

Why in the news?

The Hong Kong legislature has passed a new national security law unanimously, granting the government more power to curb dissent. The passing of the ‘Safeguarding National Security Bill’ comes in the wake of a political crackdown sparked by the 2019 pro-democracy protests.

Political System of Hong Kong

• Political system
  • Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China located on the Delta of eastern Pearl River in South China.
  • It has its own currency, political system and cultural identity but it belongs to China.
• Background
  • The city was a colony of the United Kingdom, until the British handed it back over to China in 1997.
    • Qing dynasty leaders ceded Hong Kong Island to the British Crown in 1842 after China’s defeat in the First Opium War.
• At the time of handover, the Chinese Communist leadership had agreed to a unique arrangement – “One Country, Two Systems”. 
• This was agreed upon to maintain Hong Kong’s prosperity, and its legal system and culture.
• One Country, Two Systems
  • Under this policy, Hong Kong maintains a de-facto constitution, known as the Hong Kong Basic Law. 
  • It guarantees freedoms that are unavailable to Chinese mainlanders, such as the right to protest, the right to a free press and freedom of speech.
  • But in recent years, Beijing has repeatedly reinterpreted the Basic Law and now it says it has "complete jurisdiction" over Hong Kong.

Background - 2019 Pro-Democracy Protests and a Security Law

• 2019 pro-democracy protests
  • In 2019, a large number of people in Hong Kong wore white and marched through the streets in one of the largest protests since the Umbrella Revolution in 2014. 
  • They were protesting against a proposed law change that would allow suspects accused of serious crimes to be sent to mainland China for trial.
• 2019 Security law
  • Following the protests in 2019, Beijing had already imposed a national security law four years ago.
  • The new law was used to prosecute several leading activists.
  • Beijing and the Hong Kong governments said the law brought about stability in the region.

What is Safeguarding National Security Bill?

• About
  • The ‘Safeguarding National Security Bill’ will come into effect on March 23.
  • It extends the government power to curb any future dissent or challenges that might arise. 
  • This includes expanding the scope of punishing treason and insurrection upto life imprisonment.
  • The law allowing criminal prosecution for specific acts committed anywhere in the world.
  • It also incorporates provisions for imposing tougher penalties on people convicted of working with governments in foreign countries to commit crimes.
• Key offences and sentences

• Why has a new law been imposed?
  • The law was introduced to prevent future disruptive protests like the ones that happened in 2019.
  • In 2003, there was an initial attempt to implement a national security law in Hong Kong as required by its mini-constitution. 
  • This sparked protests by nearly half a million people who were concerned that it would threaten the city's freedoms.

Q1) What is Umbrella Revolution?

The Umbrella Revolution was a series of protests in Hong Kong that took place between September 26 and December 15, 2014. The protests were often called the Umbrella Movement, Occupy Movement, or Umbrella Revolution, which originated from a Twitter hashtag that began appearing globally on September 28, 2014.

Q2) What is the Basic Law of the Hong Kong?

The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) is the constitutional document for Hong Kong. It has been in effect since July 1, 1997.

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in News?
• How is Defamation Defined under the Indian Law?
• The SC Verdicts on Defamation and the Right to Free Speech
• What is the Recent Case and What has SC Ruled?

Why in News?

The Supreme Court restrained a trial court from proceeding with a defamation case against Delhi Chief Minister for retweeting a YouTube video against the BJP’s IT cell.

How is Defamation Defined under the Indian Law?

• Under Indian law, defamation can be a civil wrong or a criminal offence.
• Civil defamation can be libel (through writing) or slander (spoken word), and is based on tort law (law imposing civil liability).
  • It is punishable with financial compensation, and damages are computed based on probabilities.
• In criminal cases, defamation must be proven beyond reasonable doubt. Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code (criminal defamation) says:
  • “Whoever, by words or by signs or by visible representations, makes or publishes any imputation concerning any person intending to harm the reputation of such person, is said to defame that person.”
  • Criminal defamation can attract a jail term up to two years, with or without fine (Section 500 IPC).

The SC Verdicts on Defamation and the Right to Free Speech

• Subramanian Swamy vs. Union of India (2016): The SC upheld the constitutionality of IPC Sections 499 and 500. It held that -
  • The right to reputation is protected under Article 21 (Protection of life and personal liberty) of the Constitution,
  • And that criminal defamation is a reasonable restriction on the right to freedom of expression.
  • While Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution protects the right to speech and expression, Article 19(2) allows the state to impose “reasonable restrictions” on this right in the interest of
    • Sovereignty and integrity of India,
    • The security of the State,
    • Friendly relations with Foreign States,
    • Public order, decency or morality or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence.
• Kaushal Kishore vs Union of India (2017): The SC ruled that no additional restrictions can be imposed on free speech except those under Article 19(2).
• Shreya Singhal vs. Union of India (2015): The SC quashed Section 66A of the IT Act 2000, which had criminalised sending “offensive messages” by means of “a computer resource or a communication device”. This provision was quashed -
  • In view of the ambiguity in the definition of the term “offensive”, and
  • On the ground that the provision was violative of Article 19(1)(a) and not saved under Article 19(2).

What is the Recent Case and What has SC Ruled?

• The SC was hearing the Delhi CM’s challenge to a Delhi HC order upholding the summons issued to him in a criminal defamation case for retweeting an allegedly defamatory video posted by a YouTuber in 2018. The HC had observed that -
  • Retweeting a content which is allegedly defamatory on the Twitter account and projecting it to be as if his own views, will prima facie attract the liability under Section 499 of IPC.
  • The large social media following of a CM undoubtedly implies a wider reach, making any retweet a form of public endorsement or acknowledgment.
• The SC ruled that retweeting need not always mean endorsement.

Q.1. What is the new name of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)?

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 is the criminal code which replaces the Indian Penal Code (IPC) 1860. The BNS covers all aspects of criminal law, including offences, punishments, defences and procedures.

Q.2. What is the Article 19(2) of the Indian Constitution?

Article 19(2) of the Indian Constitution permits the government to impose reasonable restrictions upon the freedom of speech and expression in the interests of public order.