A Tentative Research On China's "arbitration-being-final" System In Labor Disputes

The"Law of the People's Republic of China on Mediation and Arbitration of Labor Disputes"was enforced on May 1st, 2008. Based on the characteristics of cases of labor disputes, the law has employed"Arbitration-being-Final"system from the international commercial arbitration to shorten the time spent in handling labor disputes, to improve the efficiency in handling labor disputes, and to best protect and realize labor's legitimate rights and interests. However, the"Law of the People's Republic of China on Mediation and Arbitration of Labor Disputes"has only employed three articles to form a fundamental framework of"Arbitration-being-Final"system. The defects in legislation and lack of concrete operating rules in practice have caused some misleading ways of understanding and applying"Arbitration-being-Final"system in judicial practice, which has greatly impaired the value of the system.The paper starts from presenting the current severe labor dispute situation by analyzing cases. Chapter One tells how"Arbitration-being-Final"system comes into being. China's labor dispute resolution system which involves"one mediation, one arbitration, and two court trials"has been found to have many defects in practice. It lacks voluntariness, authority and efficiency. Therefore,"Arbitration-being-Final"system has been employed in the legislation of the"Law of the People's Republic of China on Mediation and Arbitration of Labor Disputes". Chapter Two offers systematic analyses of the theoretical basis, range of application, and legal force of the"Arbitration-being-Final"system, and its relief measures for the two parties concerned. Chapter Three offers analyses of the current operation of the"Arbitration-being-Final"system by presenting how the"Arbitration-being-Final"system has been applied in handling labor dispute cases in Ningbo city of Zhejiang province. It gives an objective assessment of the"Arbitration-being-Final"system, and states that the system, being efficient and fair, is beneficial to the current labor dispute resolution system. At the meantime, the chapter analyses the defects of the system from two aspects: defects in legislation and perplexity in practice. Chapter Four gives a brief introduction to the labor dispute resolution system in Germany and in Hong Kong and Taiwan regions. It also proposes suggestions to improve the"Arbitration-being-Final"system in China.The core of the paper is the suggestions for the"Arbitration-being-Final"system. The current labor dispute situation and defects in current resolution system in China are analyzed, and many successful modes in foreign countries are used for reference, to improve the legislation and supervision of the"Arbitration-being-Final"system, to enhance the quality of labor arbitrators. Thus, the labor dispute resolution system in China might be fairer and more reasonable, judicial resources might be better utilized, and the labor disputes might be settled more quickly, all of which might be beneficial to establish harmonious and stable labor relations.