Are the Rules for the Registration of Trade Unions in Cameroon Compatible with the ILO's Concept of Freedom of Association?

This paper reviews the rules for the registration of trade unions in Cameroon in the context of obligations assumed when the country ratified International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 87 in 1960. It is argued that although the country's substantive legislation (Labour Code 1992) appears ambivalent on the point, in fact it ties the validity of a trade union in the country to formal registration and authorization by state officials. The paper criticizes both the substantive law and bureaucratic rules and practices for undermining the ILO rules of freedom of association and other obligations assumed under international law. It is contended that the conclusion is inevitable because the country's 1996 Constitution (section 45) makes provision for ratified treaties to be superior to those of internal rules in the event of a conflict between the two.