Research
Research Reports
| Title | Research on the improvement of the labor disputes settlement procedure in Korea | ||
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| Date | 2019.07.01 | ||
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 Research on the improvement of the labor disputes settlement procedure in Korea.pdf
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Research on the improvement of the labor disputes settlement procedure in Korea
Labor disputes have many unique characteristics that distinguish them from ordinary civil disputes. One of them is the existence of a clear imbalance of power between workers in economically and socially inferior positions and employers in relatively superior positions. Thus, labor disputes should be subject to labor law, which are distinct from ordinary civil law, and special procedures are necessary to solve them properly. Currently the labor dispute settlement procedure of Korea is dualized into the Labor Relations Commission, which is an administrative institution, and the court. The lack of professionality and fairness of two bodies, the overlapping of procedures caused by the dualization of the problem solving system and the delay in the process of dispute settlement are pointed out as serious problems. To address these problems, it is necessary to unify the judgment body on labor cases by establishing the Labor Court, a specialized court that can efficiently implement the special procedure applied to labor cases, the placement of professional personnel including career judges specialized in labor cases and the participation of lay judges that represents workers and employers in trials. As for the composition of the panels in the Labor Court, the form in which career judges can hear the opinions of lay judges, but need not be bound by their opinions is acceptable as long as Article 27 paragraph 1 of the Constitution is not amended. In addition, it is desirable for the Labor Relations Commission to take charge of pre-trial conciliation as a mandatory procedure after the establishment of the Labor Court. The enactment of relevant law by the National Assembly is essential in order to achieve the establishment of the Labor Court and the unification of the labor disputes settlement procedures. But it cannot be easily accomplished in a short time because the positions of numerous stakeholders related to labor issues are sharply divided and conflicted. Therefore, the Labor Relations Commission should be improved by enhancing its professionalism and fairness as well as strengthening its hearing system for judgment until the Labor Court is introduced. Recently, demands have been raised to expand the system in which citizens can participate in trials as a way to boost public trust in the judiciary. At this point, the introduction of the Labor Court and the lay judge system therein could not only serve as an avenue to enhance the professionality and fairness of trials by reflecting the opinions of workers and employers in the course of the trials of labor cases, but also serve as an important turning point to realize the current task of citizens' participation in the justice system. To introduce the Labor Court, I expect an active communication among the labor, the management, the legal profession and the other interested parties, based on which we can reach a social consensus. 
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