Federal Labour Court issues 1996 annual report

The annual report of Germany's Federal Labour Court for 1996 shows that the number of incoming cases increased to 2,118, while the number of resolved cases increased to 2,225.

The German system of labour courts is a system of jurisdiction for hearing disputes under labour law. Whether a case is dealt with by the labour courts is determined by the Labour Courts Act (Arbeitsgerichtsgesetz). It is a three-tier system, with first-instance Labour Courts, Land Labour Courts and the Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht).

According to its recently published annual report, the number of incoming cases at the Federal Labour Court increased by 19 from 2,099 in 1995 to 2,118 in 1996, of which 460 were from eastern Germany. The number of resolved cases increased by 41 from 2,184 in 1995 to 2,225 in 1996. In 1996, the average duration of all proceedings was 18 months, while for cases relating to dismissals, the average duration was 12 months. At the end of 1996, there were 388 proceedings pending. In order of importance, the incoming cases in 1996 related to termination of the employment relationship (35%), interpretation of collective agreements, collective representation and co-determination, and entitlements derived from individual labour contracts. Seven proceedings are still pending at the Federal Constitutional Court and one proceeding is still pending at the European Court of Justice.

Reference

"Bundersarbeitsgericht: Tätigkeit im Jahre 1996", Thomas Dietrich, Bundesarbeitsblatt 6/1997.