18 October, 2016
The Council for the Judiciary submit an application to the Constitutional Court regarding the non-compliance of the remuneration system of State and local government officials and employees with the Constitution. The Council of Justice considers that there exists an imbalance in the joint salary system caused by repeated amendments in the Law On Remuneration of Officials and Employees of State and Local Government Authorities; and an assessment provided by the Constitutional Court will be a valid argument for alignment of remuneration system not only for judges and prosecutors, but also for the wider scope of public administration.
The Council for the Judiciary examined the issue on the initiative of the Latvian Association of Administrative Judges, which was supported also by the Latvian Association of Judges. The Association of Administrative Judges points out that under the first paragraph of the Section 6.1 of the Law on Remuneration the fixed remuneration of a judge already for a prolonged time does not correspond to the status of a judge in legal system of Latvia - the constitutional importance of organs of state power.
By including the judges in the joint salary system, the monthly salary of judges becomes equivalent to the salary of a highly qualified lawyer in public administration institutions with an appropriate wage rate. The imbalance was caused when the restrictions were lifted for payment of premiums and bonuses to public administration employees, while denying such rights to the judges. As a result salary considered as being equivalent for judges was as much as 50% lower than salary of the executives. At present, this discrepancy is even greater due to the statutory exception made for the State Revenue Service by applying a specific rate to officials and civil servants of this service.