Lay Judges at Labour Courts: A Cross-national Study

A recently published research report by Burgess et al. (2017) sheds new light on the work of lay judges at labour courts. Nine countries of the European Union - Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Slovenia and the UK - have lay judges representing employers and employees in their labour courts (Machura 2016). Here, the state recognises the interests of employers and employees in the application and development of labour law in the courts. The study by Burgess et al. provides detailed information on the labour courts of Germany, France and Great Britain. It covers the recruitment, training and work of the lay judges. The study notes that employee and employer representatives are influenced by the industrial relations culture in their countries and by the traits of their national labour courts. Discussed is the research report: The Roles, Resources and Competencies of Employee Lay Judges. A Cross-national Study of Germany, France and Great Britain by Peter Burgess, Susan Corby, Armin Höland, Hélène Michel, Laurent Willemez, Christina Buchwald, and Elisabeth Krausbeck [Working Paper Forschungsförderung, no. 051, October 2017, Düsseldorf: Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, 92 pp., online, complimentary, available at: https://www.boeckler.de/pdf/p_fofoe_WP_051_2017.pdf]