Individualarbeitsrechtliche Konflikte und ihre Beilegung in Japan

Abstract

In Japan, individual labor disputes have been neglected for a long period of time. Only after the turn of the millennium two systems have been introduced at the national level dealing exclusively with the resolution of individual labor disputes. In 2001 a conciliation procedure before an administrative body and, in 2006, labor tribunal proceedings before the Japanese district courts have been established. Japan is known to be a country where conflicts are more often than not settled by way of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), i.e. proceedings whose purpose is an amicable settlement of a dispute. The labor tribunal proceedings are court proceedings but, nevertheless, they have a great deal in common with ADR proceedings. The analysis and legal classification of the newly established dispute resolution systems, in particular the labor tribunal proceedings, is the aim of this paper.