Justice and Human Rights Minister Fernando Rabat acknowledged delays in labor cases on Friday and announced that the government is working on procedural changes to speed up cases, according to Emol. He did so in a letter published in El Mercurio.
"We know that results will take time," the minister wrote. The letter responded to another published a day earlier in the same newspaper by Magdalena Price, a lawyer and researcher at Pivotes, who criticized what she called "delayed justice."
Price described a specific case. On October 2, Santiago's Second Labor Court accepted a labor rights protection claim for processing. The court summoned the parties to a preliminary hearing on September 28, 2027.
The lawyer recalled that the Labor Code enshrines the principle of prompt proceedings. It also requires that the hearing be scheduled within the following 35 days and gives priority to rights protection cases. "35 days, the law says. 361, the court set," she wrote.
Price linked the delay to public distrust. She cited the latest survey by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), according to which only 24% of Chileans trust the courts.
Rabat described the concern as legitimate. "Behind every case are people and families awaiting compensation, workers seeking to assert their rights and employers who need to resolve disputes," he said.
The minister cited judiciary figures. Labor cases rose from 20,224 in 2014 to 43,917 in 2025, without an equivalent increase in the courts' capacity to handle them.
As a measure, he highlighted a law published on September 14. The law creates Santiago's Third Labor Court and strengthens the labor courts in Antofagasta, Concepción and Punta Arenas.
According to Rabat, implementation will be gradual and will add judges and staff. In Santiago, the government expects to reduce the workload per judge from 225% to 150%. The minister did not detail what the procedural changes involve or their timelines.
