The European Association of Labour Court Judges

3rd Annual Congress - Rome (Italy)

29 October - 1 November 1998

Procedure and Practice in Discrimination Cases

At the invitation of Judge Giovanni Mammone and colleagues from the Italian Consiglio Superiore della Magistratura, the Association held its 3rd Annual Congress in Rome. This was organised with financial support from the social affairs directorate (DG/V) of the European Commission, and some twenty participants, including representatives from twelve of the member countries of the Association, gathered to discuss a wide range of issues relating to discrimination claims before European labour courts and tribunals.

The Association was also pleased to welcome representatives from the European Commission and the European Lawyers’ Association, as well as a group of distinguished judicial colleagues from the Italian Corte di Cassazione. Amongst the matters addressed during the seminar were problems of access to justice in cases of discrimination; rules relating to time limits for bringing discrimination claims; problems raised by provisions on the burden of proof in discrimination litigation; issues surrounding remedies for successful litigants in discrimination cases; and procedures for appeal against first-instance decisions in such cases.

The formal meetings were followed by the Annual General Meeting of the Association, at which Judge Gustav Maier, of the Austrian Supreme Court, was elected President of the EALCJ for the period 1999-2000, in succession to Judge Alfonso Martinez Escribano (Spain).

A farewell dinner took place on the final evening, at which the Association was able to celebrate the installation, with effect from that day (1st November 1998), of Judge Eggert Oskarsson as President of the Icelandic Labour Court.