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

In the last few years, 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 specialized in dealing with labour proceedings. Focusing on labour justice in Portugal, Spain and Italy, this chapter critically analyses the effects of the reforms adopted in the period 2005-2019, both at macro (national) and meso level (judicial districts). The research shows the persistence of significant territorial gaps within the three countries, in terms of performance of labour courts, which represent a serious threat to the ability of the Southern European societies to effectively achieve sustainable development in this regard.