The pays of judges and prosecutors will be raised twofold only after these pass the pre-vetting and vetting, said Minister of Justice Veronica Mihailov-Moraru. The official noted that as regards the auxiliary personnel of courts, effort has been made for their pays to be raised after the next budget amendment, IPN reports.
“Within the budget amendment exercise, we made every effort and the necessary approaches to have the pays of the staff of the SCM and the SCP raised as they are to bear the burden of the reform inside the system. The salaries of personnel of courts of law, clerks, assistants and all those who passed the pre-vetting up to now will also be raised,” Veronica Mihailov-Moraru stated in the program “Résumé with Ileana Pîrgaru” on RliveTV channel.
The minister of justice explained in what conditions the salaries of members of the SCM and the SCP, of judges and prosecutors will be raised. “At the start of spring, we raised the salaries of judges by 15%, given the partial execution of the Constitutional Court’s decision. We will definitely raise the salaries of judges and prosecutors, but only after the pre-vetting and vetting exercises are completed so that we do not again experience the situation when the pays are raised, but there are no effects,” noted Veronica Mihailov-Moraru.
According to a study conducted by the Legal Resources Center, the beginner judges in 2022 got a salary of over 20,000 lei (2.1 average salaries), while the judges of the Supreme Court of Justice – of over 30,000 lei (3.1 average salaries). The minister of justice said the judges will have their pays raised twofold when they pass the external assessment.
“In the case of judges, given that their salaries were already raised by 15%, it will be a twofold increase or minus 15% for reaching a twice larger salary. In principle, we reached such an agreement. We are now negotiating exact pay raises for judges with the Ministry of Finance. As regards the personnel, the raised sum will be smaller. For all those who pass and will pass the pre-vetting, the salaries will be doubled next year. The salaries of employees of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office will also be raised, but they should first pass the vetting,” said Veronica Mihailov-Moraru.
The minister noted that the external assessment of judges and prosecutors is to be completed in 2025. According to the authorities, 140 judges and 220 prosecutors and also candidates for eventual vacancies who will win contests until 2025 will be subject to external assessment.
