Labor Law Expert Prof. Däubler Lectured in Tongji Law School

In the afternoon of September 9th, 2019, Wolfgang Däubler, a famous German labor jurist and professor of Bremen University, was invited to Tongji Law School to give a lecture entitled “Can Litigation Promote Social Progress?” Arthur Tarnowski from Shanghai Office of Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Xu Gang, Deputy Dean of Law School, Gao Xujun, director of International Affairs Office, and other teachers commented in the lecture. Graduate and undergraduate students of Tongji law school and international students of Sino-German double degree program attended this lecture. The lecture was presided over by Professor Gao Xujun.

Professor Wolfgang Däubler vividly discussed the topic of “Whether Litigation Can Promote Social Progress” by introducing three cases of “Nephrotic Treatment: from Self-Payment to Insurance Company”, “Officialized Occupation of Psychiatrist” and “NATO Missile in Germany”.

In the lecture, Professor Däubler described in detail a legal practice he had experienced in his early years to explain how litigation played a role in the transformation of the main payer of nephrotic treatment. In Germany, kidney disease treatment used to be self-financed and only 1% of people could afford it. In order to change the status quo, some lawyers sued the insurance company under “both life and health are worth protecting” within the constitution. At the time, the court said it would take at least a year to reach a verdict, but the lawyers contacted local magazines and claimed that journalists would continue to follow up on the matter. Under such pressure, the judge adopted the relevant suggestions in the procedural law the next week, and thus the judgement saved many lives. Similarly, in the second case therapists obtained the same official recognition as common doctors through litigation, which promoted the amendment of the law.

After a vivid and detailed introduction to the cases, Professor Däubler pointed out that litigation will affect and change people's lives and have a positive impact on society. In addition, he believed that if we can combine the external forces, such as the power of mass media, we can also speed up the process of litigation.

Finally, Professor Däubler conducted a heated discussion on this topic with students of Tongji Law School. The professor had an in-depth exchange on “How Can the Law Play Its Due Role in Issues Involving the Politics of the Country”, “Whether the Judicial System Is Reflected in the Judgment of the Court through the Exertion of Multi-Party Pressure” and “Does the Lawyer's Network Help to Achieve Better Results in the Court”, etc.

Wolfgang Däubler is a famous German labor jurist and professor of Bremen University. He is mainly engaged in the teaching and research of German and European labor law, civil law and economic law. His books “The Dismissal Protection Law”, “The Collective Contract Law” and “The Enterprise Organization Law” are necessary reference books for German labor law practitioners, many of which have been translated into Chinese. Among them, the book German Labor Law translated by Associate Professor Wang Qian (a student of Wolfgang Däubler), has been published.