Territories of (In)Justice. Labour justice in Southern Europe

Over the past few years the Southern European countries have introduced a large number of reforms, on both the supply and the demand side, with the aim of improving the overall quality of justice and, in particular, the efficiency of the courts that specialize in dealing with labour proceedings. Focusing on labour justice in Portugal, Spain and Italy, this chapter critically analyses the effects of the reforms adopted during the period 2005–19, both at the macro (national) and the meso level (judicial districts). The research shows the persistence of significant territorial gaps within the three countries in terms of the performance of the labour courts, and this represents a serious threat to the ability of the Southern European societies to effectively achieve sustainable development in this regard.