The paper investigates the new boundaries of judicial discretion in the contexts of fixed-term work and dismissal. It argues that the recourse to "fraus legi" and to the principle of effective prevention of abuses with regard to fixed-term work, on one hand, and recent interpretations about dismissal based on illicit cause, on the other, will still permit judges a judicial review on the exercise of the employer's powers. The paper ends with a critical appraisal of the dismissal based on illicit cause thesis, by suggesting a different framework for arbitrary dismissal.