The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) is preparing changes to the rules for paying additional remuneration, which will remove the limit of four salaries for bonuses for magistrates and court employees. This is clear from information published in "Lex".
According to the publication, the proposal is backed by the "Budget and Finance" committee at the SJC, and the reasons are that no similar ceiling for additional remuneration exists in other state institutions. Another argument is that the judicial system has never set more than two salaries for annual bonuses.
Among the changes being discussed is the idea that retired and resigned magistrates and employees will receive bonuses based on their work during the year, if they left before the bonuses were paid. It is also being discussed whether magistrates seconded to European and international institutions should receive additional remuneration.
The proposals come at a time when the mandate of the current composition of the SJC expired in October 2022, and the judicial system is rocked by scandals such as the "Five Euros" and "Notary" cases.
The initial goal of the changes to the rules was to bring them into line with the amendments to the Judiciary Act, which closed the specialized courts and prosecutor's offices. The law stipulates that, based on the workload of the relevant judicial body, the SJC determines additional remuneration for a judge, prosecutor or investigator.
The proposals of the Budget Committee have already been coordinated with the Legal Affairs Committee. They are about to be submitted for discussion at a meeting of the Plenum of the Supreme Judicial Council and put to a vote.
Source: www.dunavmost.com