The Economic Sociology of Labour Law

Drawing on the work of Max Weber, this article considers the utility of an approach to the study of labour law, which it calls the economic sociology of labour law (ESLL). It identifies the contract for work as the key legal institution in the field, and the primary focus of scholarly analysis. Characterizing the act of contracting for work as an example of what Weber called economic social action oriented to the legal order, it proposes that Weber's notion of the labour constitution be used to map the context within which contracting for work takes place. And it argues that, in comparison to traditional socio‐legal approaches, ESLL has the significant advantage of allowing for account to be taken of the individual and commercial, as well as the social and legal, elements of contracting for work.     

Labour Law 2008: 40 Years On

What has happened to British Labour Law over the past 40 years?It has become a larger more juridified subject. But its developmentrequires an understanding of the New Capitalism that has emerged,with capital more mobile and powerful in globalisation. Threeaspects are chosen for comment: First the meaning of the recentreview by the Law Lords of economic torts. Second, the argumentsabout the contract of employment in Britain and Italy, in thecontext of the regulation debate, forthcoming legislation andthe search for acceptable standards of social justice. Thirdly,the scene is set in European law for a new chapter in the tensionbetween employers' economic freedoms in the internal marketand social rights, including the right to strike.     

The Collective Labour Law of the European Union

Abstract: The collective labour law of the European Union is embedded in a variety of legal measures incorporating principles of collective labour law reflecting national experience. The dynamic of its development has been the spill-over effect of these principles, through their translation into the status of EU law, and their development by decisions of the European Court of Justice. The article outlines a framework of principles which, it is argued, are currently embodied in the collective labour law of the EU. They include collectively bargained labour standards, workers' collective representation, workers' participation, and protection of strikers against dismissal. In addition, there is a parallel principle of collective solidarity emerging in the social security law of the EU. The principle of collective negotiation of labour law introduced by the Protocol and Agreement on Social Policy may be seen as the founding constitutional basis for the collective labour law of the European Union.     

The Boycott of the Law and the Law of the Boycott: Law, Labour, and Politics in British Columbia

This article uses a critical theoryllegal mobilization perspective to study the 1987–92 trade union boycott of the British Columbia labour law. The problems encountered establishing a total boycott–one that would eschew all contact with the state–and the subsequent modification of the parameters of the boycott through a selective reliance on the law offer an important case from which to learn more about the role of law and legal rights in highly regulated organizations and how collectives mobilize the law. The author argues that legal rights are important to unions because of their ability to mediate the complexity of labour relations through a decentralization of authority. At the same time, mobilization of the law for this purpose accentuates localized identities and unequal resources that operate in tension with a boycott ethos, necessitating a deliberative politics to legitimize the law. By exploring the tension between these two forms of mobilization around law–one to reduce complexity, another to legitimize broad collective norms–the author analyzes and draws some conclusions about the reproduction of social unionism in British Columbia.     

劳动刑法视野下劳动用工违法犯罪的惩治与预防机制对策

劳动用工违法犯罪的行为可以分为违法犯罪类型、单纯违法类型和模糊行为类型;劳动刑法应当以保障劳动密集型企业中底层劳动者的合法权益为重心,严厉惩治严重的劳动侵权犯罪;同时关注劳动者和用人单位双方利益的适度平衡;惩治和预防劳动用工违法犯罪,应当构建和完善劳动刑事处罚机制、宽严相济刑事政策机制、劳动法律体系衔接机制、司法协调救济机制等。     

Dismantling or Strengthening Labour Law: The Case of the European Court of Justice

Abstract: The European Court of Justice is increasingly accused of dismantling labour law. The unusually sharp criticism is mainly motivated by four determining, though concealed reasons. First, the fact that many decisions address conflicts familiar to national law which are however largely repressed in the national context; second, the crisis of the national labour markets and the ensuing attempts to fence them off from the consequences of advancing integration; third, the inconsistent policies of a Union caught between the prevailing orientation towards a distinctly economic Community and the demands of a slowly progressing political Union; and fourth, the Union's difficulties to meet its own claims. As a result, the Court of Justice is more and more distracted from its judicial role and forced into a regulatory function. Hence, it is important to recall that a consistent integration process inevitably requires abandoning national regulations and creating a growing body of common rules intended to realise the common objectives. Further, the Union must more than ever attempt to correct its structural deficiencies and lay down fundamental rights, both in order to give direction to its regulatory interventions, and to limit them. Finally, the time has come for a clear specialisation of the European Court of Justice itself, as well as a systematic review of the conditions governing preliminary rulings, in order to avoid any further instrumen-talisation of the Court for the solution ofinternal conflicts of the Member States.     

国际法的普遍性:过去、现在与未来

普遍性很大程度上决定了国际法的基础、标准以及方向。可以从主体、标准与观念三个方面理解普遍性。普遍性具有正当性,但它是有限度的。历史上,西方大国利用普遍性很大程度上决定了其与非西方国家之间的法律关系,严重损害了国际法律秩序的公正性与合理性。20世纪,社会主义国家和发展中国家分别试图重塑国际法的普遍性,但未取得预期效果。当前,国际法普遍性的作用与运用更加复杂,也迎来被重塑的新机遇。倡导包容性是中国关于国际法普遍性的整体主张与实践的组成部分,恰当地理解包容性应当结合国际法普遍性的视角。中国倡导包容性的过程既是重塑普遍性的过程,也应当是重塑包容性的过程。     

Assessing Legitimate Structures for the Making of Transnational Labour Law: The Durability of Corporatism

In recent years, there has been greater scrutiny of the legitimacyof governance within international and regional institutionsand an emerging interest in deliberative democracy. This paperexamines the potential impact of these trends on the survivalof current mechanisms for the making of transnational labourlaw, which may be thought to reflect corporatist rather thanpluralist or deliberative practices. We focus on two examples:the tripartite constitutional foundation of the InternationalLabour Organisation, which ensures that employer and workerrepresentatives share in standard-setting alongside governmentrepresentatives, and the predominantly bipartite process ofsocial dialogue between management and labour for the formulationof European Community social policy. Despite significant differencesin approach, both organisations have chosen to prioritise participationby trade unions and employer representatives within designatedbargaining structures that are ostensibly designed to achievesome balance in their relative influence; however, the reasonsfor this preference have not always been apparent. This paperinvestigates how corporatist structures have been adapted forapplication at the international and European level, and seeksto analyse their potential for legitimacy, and thereby theirdurability.     

劳动法上经济补偿的适用范围及其性质

经济补偿作为一项制度与失业保险、解雇保护立法、工会和集体谈判等相关制度密切相关,并没有统一的模式,也不应孤立地考察经济补偿制度。经济补偿的基本目的在于补偿雇员由于遭雇主解雇而丧失的工作上的财产利益,但经济补偿在不同的适用场合,其性质和功能并不相同。因此,在方法上,不必对经济补偿的性质和功能寻求统一的答案。我国《劳动合同法》扩大经济补偿的适用范围,在现阶段具有合理性和必要性。从长远看,我国应该适当缩小经济补偿的适用范围,增强这一制度的科学性和合理性。