Justice Ministry suggests increasing salaries of judges

The Justice Ministry will submit a bill to the Government, suggesting increasing the salaries of judges, Justice Minister Oleg Efrim said in a roundtable meeting, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to the minister, the salary of ordinary judges may be raised to three official average salaries, of judges of courts of appeal – to four average salaries, while of judges of the Supreme Court of Justice – to five average salaries. “We based our proposal on the Council of Europe’s recommendations as regards the payment of salaries to judges. The Council considers that the minimum salary of judges must be equal to at least three official average salaries. Our calculations start from here,” said Oleg Efrim. He also said that anticorruption measures will be taken to make the judges more responsible, but their salaries should also be adjusted. The president of the Supreme Court of Justice Mihai Poalelungi told the journalists that the rise in salaries will be a solution for remedying the situation in the legal system. “It is hard to believe that we can attract highly-qualified specialists with a salary of 3,500 lei, which is the pay of most of judges,” he stated. Currently, the ordinary judges receive a salary of 3,500-3,800, the judges of courts of appeal of 4,000-4,200 lei, while the judges of the Supreme Court of Justice of 5,100-5,400 lei. There are 420 judges working in Moldova at present.