ITUC: dismissal of 57 judges is a new threat to freedom and the rule of law in Tunisia

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) yesterday described President Kais Saied’s decision to dismiss 57 judges, as a “new threat to freedom and the rule of law in Tunisia”. The ITUC quoted its Secretary-General, Sharan Burrow, her call to “support the efforts of the Tunisian General Labour Union to launch a serious national dialogue to end the political, economic and social crisis in the country.”

The ITUC considered that “the sackings ignore the frameworks regulating the work of the judiciary and its representative bodies and deprive the judges of the right to object to, and take legal action against, their dismissal.”

The ITUC pointed out that the dismissal of the judges came after “a series of orders and decrees restricting fundamental rights and freedoms in Tunisia, such as Circular No. 2, which forbids any negotiations with unions without the permission of the prime minister”, stressing that this “contravenes ILO Convention 98, which guarantees the right to collective bargaining.”

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The ITUC quoted its Secretary-General, Sharan Burrow, as considering that “this wholesale dismissal of judges without any due process, and depriving them of any right to appeal, is the latest step in the tightening of the executive’s control over the judiciary after the seizure of legislative power.”

“We fully support the judges’ strike and protests against this arbitrary dismissal, as well as all those who stand in solidarity with them and against attempts to control and manipulate the judiciary,” Burrow added.

He called on the relevant parties to “support the UGTT’s endeavours to launch a serious national dialogue that ends the political, economic and social crisis in the country.”

Is Tunisia’s president Kais Saied like Louis XIV, King of France? – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/Middle East Monitor]