Lay Judge Impartiality in Labor Dispute

In a labor court dispute, the defendant employer argued that a lay judge should have recused herself under statutory provisions due to being a business competitor. The appellate court rejected this objection, reasoning that a degree of competitive relationship is inherent to the system of lay judges, which, in the context of labor law, must be weighed less restrictively; therefore, the claimed geographical proximity of the judge to the employer alone was insufficient to mandate recusal according to the relevant procedural code provisions.