Study comparing the labour dispute resolution systems of six countries is launched during international seminar
Photo: Enamat
The International Seminar on Labour Dispute Resolution Systems: Research and Integration took place on 28 and 29 June 2022 and marked the consolidation of a broad work of comparative descriptive analysis on labour jurisdiction in six different countries that started in 2019.
Alexandre dos Santos Cunha, Research Coordinator at the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) and at the Institute for Applied Economic Research (Ipea), presented the results of the Estudos de casos comparados sobre sistemas de jurisdição trabalhista (Comparative case studies on labour dispute resolution systems in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa, and South Korea) during the event’s closing session. The study addressed issues related to regulation and the labour market, substantive labour law and dispute resolution systems.
Regarding conciliation, the research has shown that common threads in all countries include the recognition of employee vulnerability and concern with building an environment for dispute resolution that takes this vulnerability into account. Cunha highlights that the global tradition of Labour Law tends towards more simplified procedures, in which conciliation is a crucial objective in the pacification of labour relations.
This is the third and final study of the project “Strengthening Information Production and Management related to Labour Justice to Expand Knowledge and Improve the Brazilian Justice System”, a partnership signed between ENAMAT, the IPC-IG, the office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Institute for Applied Economic Research (Ipea) and the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) of Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Prior to the closing session, representatives from each country, who collaborated with the publication by delivering presentations on the labour dispute resolution systems of their countries during webinars held by the IPC-IG in 2021, also participated in the international seminar to discuss labour dispute resolution systems in different contexts.
In the first day of the event, the case of Argentina was presented by Professor Carlos Toselli, from the National University of Cordoba. Then, Luis Gerardo de La Peña Gutiérrez, from the Judiciary Council of the State of Mexico, presented the functioning of the Mexican Labour Court. Closing the first day of the event, Viriato Gonçalves Reis, Deputy Attorney General of the Public Ministry of Portugal, presented general aspects of the Portuguese judicial organisation.
Opening the second day of the Seminar, Professor Laurie Warwick, from the Republic of South Africa's Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), presented an overview of the functioning and structure of the South African labour justice system. Professor June Namgoong, Research Associate at the Labour Law Institute of South Korea, was the last representative to speak before the closing of the event, sharing lived experiences and indicators from South Korea.
In closing, the IPC-IG representative highlighted that the study provides the possibility to compare Brazil with other countries and allows the readers to understand that each system is unique. There are countries with systems that are more focused on administrative actions; court decisions; or consensual solutions, but the Judiciary is always involved in some capacity. He concluded by stating that in all countries there is a concern with labour regulation and means for resolving labour disputes.