Rōdō Funsō Syori Hō (Labor Dispute Resolution Law)

This book comprehensively examines the legal disciplines related to the labor dispute resolution system and procedures. It presents as background the recent increase in individual labor disputes and the accompanying progress in the development of resolution procedures for labor disputes.
 
Specifically, in Chapter 1, after presenting a foundational perspective on the significance and resolution of labor disputes and considering voluntary dispute resolutions within companies, I introduce the current overall state of the labor dispute resolution system and indicate the challenges therein.
 
In Chapter 2, I divide the major systems and their procedures used for resolving labor disputes into administrative systems and judicial systems and introduce the contents of each system. I examine issues that arise within these systems from a somewhat theoretical perspective based on court cases and theories.
 
I then analyze in Chapter 3 “required facts” in labor law. To analyze “required facts” is to reexamine rules under substantive law from the perspective of the burden of proof regarding facts required under substantive law. In this chapter, I analyzed the contents of “required facts” with a focus on the major types of litigation surrounding labor disputes.
 
Until now, four areas have been assumed to be the main subjects of labor law: general review, individual labor relations law, collective labor relations law, and labor market law. In this book, based on the idea that there exists an area of labor law to be called “labor dispute resolution law”, I attempt to systematize judiciary discipline in this area. I believe this to be an original attempt in labor law theory.
 
Recent legal studies have been undertaken to examine “required facts” while considering court practices among other things. However, study on “required facts” in labor law has remained limited. Amidst such circumstances, by comprehensively examining “required facts” in labor law, this book intends to fulfill the role of bridging theory and practice in labor law and to review substantive rules in labor law from a perspective based on the burden of proof. This could have a certain social significance in that “required facts” then can become useful tools for effectively solving labor disputes.
 

(Written by Ryuichi Yamakawa, Professor, Graduate Schools for Law and Politics / 2017)