Labor tribunal

The panel through which a district court (地方裁判所) conducts labor tribunal proceedings (労働審判手続): one labor tribunal judge (労働審判官) and two labor tribunal members (労働審判員) (Labor Tribunal Act, Articles 2 and 7). It decides by majority, and its deliberations are secret (Article 12). It may look into the facts on its own initiative and examine the evidence it finds necessary (Article 17, paragraph (1)); it tries to settle the dispute by mediation (調停) where that looks possible, and, if the dispute is not resolved, makes a labor tribunal decision (労働審判), based on the parties' rights as the hearing shows them and on how the proceedings went (Article 1 and Article 20, paragraph (1)) — unless it ends the case because, given the nature of the case, labor tribunal proceedings are not suited to resolving the dispute promptly and properly (Article 24, paragraph (1)).