PROBLEMS OF DEFINING CIVIL AND ADMINISTRATIVE JURISDICTION IN PROTECTING EMPLOYEES' LABOR RIGHTS

Abstract

The article examines the problem of delimiting subject-matter judicial jurisdiction in the adjudication of labour disputes. The purpose of the study is to determine the proper jurisdiction of courts in disputes arising from relations based on socially useful collective labour, within the scope of labour law. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of judicial practice in labour cases. Decisions concerning dismissal, reinstatement, recovery of payments for the period of forced absence (idle time), and challenges to conclusions of attestation (certification) commissions are analysed. The study demonstrates that administrative courts not infrequently resolve such disputes substantively as labour disputes, applying the Labour Code of Ukraine and related labour legislation, which indicates the predominantly private-law nature of these conflicts. It is argued that service-related labour relations belong to the subject matter of labour law and that, within these relations, the state acts as an employer; therefore, disputes aimed at restoring violated labour rights should be considered under the rules of civil procedure, with due regard to special legislation. The article maintains that the development of consistent case-law in labour disputes should be grounded in identifying the nature of the dispute between the parties and, accordingly, assigning labour disputes to a single subject-matter jurisdiction, which does not exclude the possibility of judicial specialisation in labour cases. The author concludes that there is a need for clearer normative delineation between private-law and public-law disputes and for introducing judicial specialisation in labour disputes without artificial mixing of jurisdictions.