The higher salaries will make the judges adopt decisions according to the law, not according to the received phone calls, said jurist Ion Guzun, a member of the Superior Council of Magistracy, referring to the raising of salaries of judges and prosecutors who passed the vetting as of January 1. The jurist noted that the judges must benefit from high salaries so as not to be tempted to take bribes, thus increasing society’s confidence in justice, IPN reports.
According to a study conducted by the Legal Resources Center, the salaries of judges and prosecutors who passed the vetting increased considerably from January 1, 2024. Thus, after passing the external evaluation, the judges of the Supreme Court of Justice benefit from a 50% increase, which is they receive a gross salary of 55,000 lei. The gross salary of judges of the Courts of Appeals who passed the vetting is 43,000 lei. Ion Guzun agrees with the raising of judges’ salaries and says that this will help root out corruption from the system.
“Surely, judges’ salaries must be increased. If the salaries are raised, I hope this will be an incentive for many judges to apply to the Supreme Court, to go through these assessments as they will be maintained. The higher salaries will make many to adopt decisions according to the law, not according to requests made through phone calls,” Ion Guzun stated in the talk show “Resumé” on RliveTV channel.
He noted that the raises are valid only for judges who pass the external evaluation. The goal of such a move is to encourage judges and prosecutors to take the vetting and fill key vacancies in the judicial system.
“The Constitutional Court ruled that in the case of judges, and subsequently, in another judgment, the same was decided in the case of prosecutors, the salaries must be adjusted to the inflation rate. I hope that with the raising of salaries, the judges will assume this power, will contribute to increasing confidence in justice, will also be a mechanism for discouraging people from coming with unsubstantiated requests to court. When this practice is applied, the people will understand what the punishment will be. The salaries of the other judges who will pass the vetting will be increased in the meantime,” explained Ion Guzun.
According to the report compiled by the Legal Resources Center, the prosecutors of specialized prosecutor’s offices, who pass the vetting, in 2024 will receive a gross salary of 47,000 lei. Despite the raises, the salaries of judges and prosecutors in Moldova are among the lowest in the Council of Europe member states.
