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The court of labour ( nl, arbeidshof, french: cour du travail, german: Arbeitsgerichtshof) is the
appellate court A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...
in the judicial system of
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
which hears appeals against
judgement Judgement (or US spelling judgment) is also known as ''adjudication'', which means the evaluation of evidence to make a decision. Judgement is also the ability to make considered decisions. The term has at least five distinct uses. Aristotle s ...
s of the labour tribunals and the presidents of those tribunals in their respective judicial area. There are five courts of labour for each of the five judicial areas ( Antwerp,
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
,
Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...
, Liège and Mons), which are the largest geographical subdivisions of Belgium for judicial purposes. Some of the courts of labour hear cases in multiple
seats A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair, a chair eq ...
. Further below, an overview is provided of the five courts of labour and their seats. Whilst their territorial organisation is the same, the courts of labour are separate from the courts of appeal, which are the main appellate courts in Belgium. The organisation of the courts of labour and the applicable rules of procedure are laid down in the
Belgian Judicial Code The Belgian Judicial Code ( nl, Gerechtelijk Wetboek, french: Code Judiciaire, german: Gerichtsgesetzbuch) is a code of law in the country of Belgium, formally adopted on 10 October 1967 and currently still in force. The Judicial Code governs t ...
. The language in which the proceedings of the courts of labour are held depends on the
official languages An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...
of their judicial areas: Dutch for the courts of labour of Antwerp and Ghent, Dutch and French for the court of labour of Brussels, French for the court of labour of Mons, and French and German for the court of labour of Liège. The use of languages in judicial matters is a sensitive topic in Belgium, and is strictly regulated by the law.


Court structure

A judge in the court of labour is called a counsellor ( nl, raadsheer, french: conseiller, german: Gerichtsrat). They are professional, law-trained
magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...
s who are, like all judges in Belgium, appointed for life until their retirement age. Lawyers or
notaries A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is disti ...
can act as ''locum tenens'' counsellor. There are also
lay judge A lay judge, sometimes called a lay assessor, is a person assisting a judge in a trial. Lay judges are used in some civil law jurisdictions. Lay judges are appointed volunteers and often require some legal instruction. However, they are not permane ...
s in the courts of labour, who are called social counsellors ( nl, raadsheer in sociale zaken, links=no, french: conseiller social, links=no, german: Sozialgerichtsrat, links=no). These social counsellors are
labourers A laborer (or labourer) is a person who works in manual labor types in the construction industry workforce. Laborers are in a working class of wage-earners in which their only possession of significant material value is their labor. Industries e ...
, employees, employers or
self-employed Self-employment is the state of working for oneself rather than an employer. Tax authorities will generally view a person as self-employed if the person chooses to be recognised as such or if the person is generating income for which a tax return n ...
who are appointed by the federal government for a tenure of five years, on the advice of employers' organisations and
trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...
s. Appellate cases are heard by the different chambers of the courts of labour, which are chaired by a panel consisting of a counsellor assisted by two or four social counsellors (depending on the nature and complexity of the case), assisted by a
clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...
. Both
claimants A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the ...
and defendants in a case can be assisted or represented by counsel, but this is not required. In addition, labourers and employees can be represented by a
union representative A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a labor union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the union hold ...
with
power of attorney A power of attorney (POA) or letter of attorney is a written authorization to represent or act on another's behalf in private affairs (which may be financial or regarding health and welfare), business, or some other legal matter. The person auth ...
. The counsellor, who chairs the panel, is referred to as the 'president of the chamber' or 'chairman of the chamber' ( nl, kamervoorzitter, links=no, french: président de chambre, links=no, german: Kammerpräsident, links=no). The counsellor who holds the overall leadership position of the court of appeal is referred to as the 'first president' or 'first chairman' ( nl, eerste voorzitter, links=no, french: premier président, links=no, german: erster Präsident, links=no). A judgement made by a court of labour is literally called an 'arrest' ( nl, arrest, links=no, french: arrêt, links=no, german: Entscheid, links=no) in order to distinguish it from the judgements of lower tribunals; it might also be translated into English as a 'decision' or 'ruling'. For the sake of readability, the term 'judgement' will be used in this article. There is a
public prosecutor's office Public prosecutor's offices are criminal justice bodies attached to the judiciary. They are separate from the courts in Germany, Austria and the German-speaking parts of Switzerland, and are called the Staatsanwaltschaft. This kind of office als ...
attached to each court of labour; these are referred to as an auditorate-general ( nl, auditoraat-generaal, links=no, french: auditorat général, links=no, german: Generalauditorat, links=no). An auditorate-general is led by the prosecutor-general ( nl, procureur-generaal, links=no, french: procureur général, links=no, german: Generalprokurator, links=no), who also leads the prosecutor-general's office attached to the corresponding court of appeal. The auditorate-general has duties in both criminal and non-criminal cases; they advise the court of labour in non-criminal social cases (in some cases related to
social security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...
or
social benefits Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...
, this advice is mandatory), and prosecute (suspected) offenders in social-criminal cases before the courts of appeal.


Jurisdiction

The courts of labour have appellate jurisdiction over all judgements made in first instance by the labour tribunals and the presidents of those tribunals in their respective judicial areas. All judgements of the labour tribunals are open for appeal; there are no exceptions for specific or petty cases.


Appeal in cassation

The judgements made by the courts of labour are final as to questions of fact. Only an appeal in cassation on
questions of law In law, a question of law, also known as a point of law, is a question that must be answered by applying relevant legal principles to interpretation of the law. Such a question is distinct from a question of fact, which must be answered by referenc ...
to the
Court of Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...
, the supreme court in the judicial system of Belgium, is still possible. Such an appeal to the Court of Cassation is extraordinary procedure, and will result in the Court of Cassation either upholding or either quashing the contested judgement of the court of labour. If the Court of Cassation does the latter, it will refer the case to a different court of labour than were the case originated from, to be tried ''de novo'' (both on questions of fact and questions of law).


Statistics

According to the statistics provided by the College of the courts and tribunals of Belgium, a total of 4,292 cases were opened at all courts of labour in 2017, aside from 6,428 cases that were still pending from before January 2017. In 4,474 of these cases, a final judgement was rendered by the courts of labour in 2017 and these cases were therefore closed.


List of courts of labour

As of 2018, there is a seat of a court of labour in the following
municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
: Seats of the court of labour of Antwerp: * Antwerp (with jurisdiction over the
province of Antwerp ) , native_name_lang = nl , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of Antwerp.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van de provincie Antwerpen.svg , shield_size ...
) * Hasselt (with jurisdiction over the province of Limburg) Seats of the court of labour of Brussels: *
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
Seats of the court of labour of Ghent: *
Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population. The area of the whole city a ...
(with jurisdiction over the
province of West Flanders ) , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of West Flanders.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van West-Vlaanderen.svg , shield_size = , image_map ...
) *
Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...
(with jurisdiction over the province of East Flanders) Seats of the court of labour of Liège: * Liège (with jurisdiction over the province of Liège) * Namur (with jurisdiction over the province of Namur) * Neufchâteau (with jurisdiction over the
province of Luxembourg Luxembourg (french: Luxembourg ; nl, Luxemburg ; german: Luxemburg ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; wa, Lussimbork), also called Belgian Luxembourg, is the southernmost province of Wallonia and of Belgium. It borders on the country of Luxembourg to the ea ...
) Seats of the court of labour of Mons: * Mons


See also

*
Judiciary of Belgium The judiciary of Belgium is similar to the French judiciary. Belgium evolved from a unitary to a federal state, but its judicial system has not been adapted to a federal system. The Belgian judiciary is referred to as the courts and tribunals ( ...


References

{{reflist Labour, Court of Courts in Belgium Appellate courts Labour courts Belgian labour law