Governance and Tripartism Department

Access to labour justice: Judicial institutions and procedures in selected European countries

Overview of procedural elements for access to labour justice in judicial dispute resolution institutions

Access to labour justice can be improved by establishing and strengthening dispute resolution mechanisms so that labour disputes are dealt with efficiently, effectively and equitably. These mechanisms may include judicial institutions, such as ordinary courts and specialized labour courts, and a variety of non-judicial institutions that provide conciliation, mediation, and arbitration services.
Judicial courts are therefore important part of dispute prevention and resolution systems and play a critical role in ensuring access to justice and contributing to equity in industrial relations. They may be competent to hear either individual or collective disputes, or both, depending on national or regional contexts.
This report aims at examining labour courts, and ordinary courts hearing labour cases, as well as various detailed aspects of their procedures and institutional settings. It seeks to identify connections between them, or regional trends, which may affect the level of access to labour justice in the countries examined. To study the characteristics of each country and compare pertinent national legislation and official statistics were examined to evaluate aspects that include institutional structure of courts and tribunals, their jurisdiction, their procedural aspects, and their operational and practice.