On Monday 4 May 2026, Luxembourg’s Chamber of Employees (Chambre des Salariés - CSL) released a press statement in which it underlined the importance of the assessorship in the deliberation of cases before the Social Security Arbitration Tribunal (CASS) and the High Council of Social Security (CSSS).
The CSL said: “In its opinion of 23 April 2026 on draft law no. 8697 amending the Social Security Code, the Chamber of Employees vigorously defends the retention of the assessorship before the Higher Council of Social Security against the government on the one hand and the Council of State and the President of the Superior Court of Justice, as expressed in their respective opinions, on the other. The assessorship constitutes an added value and confers legitimacy on the jurisdiction.”
The Chamber said it wished to underline the importance of the assessorship in the deliberation of cases both before the Social Security Arbitration Council and before the Higher Council of Social Security and highlighted that the assessorship is “nothing other than a component of social dialogue between the social partners in decision-making at the level of the social courts”.
The CSL stated that it is essential that the voice of the world of work forms an integral part of the deliberation of contentious cases, both in matters of social security and labour law, both at first instance and on appeal. It emphasised that if the training for assessors, as advocated by the chamber, particularly in the field of social security, is carefully implemented, the assessorship will constitute an added value in judicial decision-making insofar as theory and practical experience complement one another and are essential in delivering a judgment that is compliant with the law, fair and legitimate.
The CSL stressed: “The attempt by the draft law to eliminate the participation of social partners in decision-making within the Higher Council of Social Security constitutes not only an obstacle to jurisdictional parity inspired by international and European texts such as the conventions of the ILO (ILO Constitution of 1919, Conventions 87 and 98), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Article 8), the European Convention on Human Rights (Articles 6§1 and 11), the European Social Charter (Articles 5, 6 and 21), as well as the treaties (Articles 3 TEU, 151 TFEU and 152–155 TFEU) and policies of the European Union.”
It described the draft law as a “grave attack” on the model of institutional parity of social partners in Luxembourg as a whole and said revaluation of the assessorship is required.
The CSL called for the introduction of assessorship before the third and eighth chambers of the Court of Appeal sitting in labour law matters and for an increase in the allowances of assessors within the social courts and labour courts to €125 per hearing, with retroactive effect from 1 January 2026, in accordance with the written agreement of the Minister of Justice dated 4 November 2024, given that these have not been adjusted for around 20 years to reflect either wage developments or the cost of living.
In conclusion, the CSL said, like the trade unions represented within it, it will not accept “such a dismantling of the Luxembourg social model, carried out at the expense of the social partners and particularly to the detriment of employees’ rights” and called for the outright withdrawal of the draft law.
