The Academy to mark the 30th anniversary of the Labour and Social Courts
in Slovenia was held at the Law Faculty of the University of Ljubljana on 22
May 2024. After the celebratory speeches, Ulrich Becker, Director of the Max-
Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy, presented the development of
labour and social courts in Germany. He highlighted peculiarities in the procedure
such as participation of lay judges, special provisions on legal costs, and
the emphasis on the principle of plaintiff-friendliness in social disputes. The
event continued with a roundtable discussion Judicial Protection of Labour
and Social Rights – Quo Vadis?”, featuring a lively debate on current challenges
in the field of substantive and procedural labour law and social security law.
This discussion was moderated by Grega Strban, Professor at the University of
Ljubljana Faculty of Law. The panellists demonstrated that the issues of labour
and social rights extend beyond the Slovenian judiciary, discussing the new
ways of organising work and the related issue of defining worker, employer,
and economically dependent person. In response to comments from the audience,
the importance of special social and labour procedure for the effective
realisation of social and labour rights was stressed.
Key words: Academy, 30th anniversary, labour courts, social courts, labour law,
social security law, current challenges, procedure.