Labor and social justice (Austria)
The labor and social justice in Austria is a special form of action of ordinary jurisdiction in Austria, the Labor and Social Court Act is regulated.
Organizational matters
Labor and social justice is exercised in the first instance by the regional courts (the name of the court is regional court ... as labor and social court ). Only in Vienna is there an independent court, the Vienna Labor and Social Court . In the second instance, labor and social justice is exercised by the higher regional courts , in the third instance by the Supreme Court .
A special feature of labor and social justice is that in addition to professional judges, expert lay judges from the group of employee and employer representatives also participate in the case law. In the first instance there is no legal or representation obligation, in the second instance before an OLG, the parties can be represented not only by lawyers , but also by qualified representatives such as legal protection secretaries of bodies capable of collective bargaining , such as the Chamber of Labor , the ÖGB or the Chamber of Commerce . Only in the third and last instance before the Supreme Court is there an absolute legal requirement.
The Labor and Social Court Act recognizes two sub-forms of labor and social justice: the jurisdiction in labor law matters and the jurisdiction in social law matters.
Labor law matters
According to § 50 Abs. 1 Z 1 ASGG , all civil-legal disputes between employers and employees , which are related to claims from the employment relationship, are to be settled before the labor and social courts . The other clauses of Section 50 (1) assign the labor and social courts to decide on other civil-legal claims in connection with the employment relationship, such as disputes among colleagues.
After § 50 para. 2 ASGG labor and social courts are also to decide on certain works constitutional jurisdiction disputes.
Social law matters
According to § 65 ASGG , the labor and social courts decide on certain claims to social insurance benefits like most benefit matters under the ASVG . The principle of successive competence applies here : The responsible social insurance agency usually first decides on the entitlement to social insurance benefits by means of a notification ( benefit notification ) upon application . If the affected insured with the payment notice does not agree, he has within a specified period (the right to § 67 ASGG ) each claim through legal action to assert against the insurance carrier. When the action is brought, the decision pursuant to § 71 ASGG becomes invalid by law. As a result, the court will decide again on the disputed claim.
The system of successive competence was chosen because, according to Art. 94 B-VG in the version valid until December 31, 2013, an appeal from an administrative authority to a court was inadmissible. The construction chosen by the legislature remained unopposed by the Constitutional Court ; With reference to the possibility of a lawsuit before the labor and social courts , he has stated that the performance notices cannot be challenged before the courts of public law . According to the 2012 amendment to administrative jurisdiction , the laws since January 1, 2014 allow administrative authorities to appeal to the ordinary courts for individual matters.
