Russo-German Workshop on "Judicial Protection of Social Rights in Russia and Germany" in St. Petersburg

Details: Published: July 11, 2019

Participants in the workshop held at the State University of St. Petersburg

Russian Federation

On 21 June 2019, the IRZ organised a Russo-German workshop on "Judicial Protection of Social Rights in Russia and Germany" in St. Petersburg together with the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy and the State University of St. Petersburg.

The German speakers at the workshop were:

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Becker, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy,
Andreja Bogataj, doctoral student at the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy,
Dr. Olga Chesalina, research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy, and
Professor Dr. Richard Giesen, holder of the Chair for Social Law, Labour Law and Civil Law at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.

The main Russian participants included jurisprudence scholars from the Chairs of Constitutional Law, Civil Procedure, Labour Law and Occupational Safety and Health at State University of St. Petersburg.

Three focal points in the workshop addressed the following topics:

Constitutional protection of social rights in Russia and Germany;
Design of non-constitutional judicial protection of social rights in Russia and Germany. An exchange on German experience with specialised social jurisdiction;
The importance of "law of judges" in social law.

Above all, presentations given by the German speakers on experience with specialised jurisdiction over social matters were of particular interest to the Russian participants. In Russia, the regular courts have jurisdiction over disputes relating to social security rights (e.g. pension claims). There are no separate courts having jurisdiction over this area. In addition, the question of whether disputes in the field of social law should be dealt with in court according to civil procedural or administrative procedural law is a controversial issue in Russia at present. The German participants were very interested to learn that civil procedural rules may also be applied in Russia.

The event was successful in its aim of fostering a dialogue between German and Russian scholars in the field of social law. The lively discussions that took place illustrated the differences that exist in the field of social law between the two countries and underscored that the participants are interested in an expert exchange which both countries can benefit from. In addition, the event provided foundations for further discussions above and beyond this workshop.