5 January, 2023
On Thursday, January 5, the Chair of the Judicial Council Aigars Strupišs and the Deputy Chair of the Judicial Council Dzintra Balta met with the representatives of court employees to discuss the possibilities of improving the remuneration system for court employees.
In a conversation with court employees, the Chair of the Judicial Council Aigars Strupišs stated: "One of the essential reasons why employees of district (city) courts and regional courts for a long time have been receiving remuneration that does not correspond to their position is that the courts of first and second instance are still organizationally and financially subordinated to the executive authority of the Ministry of Justice. Unfortunately, such a system, where the judicial budget is drawn up and administered by the executive branch, has not justified itself. Therefore, the Judicial Council has set a strategic goal to take over the administration of courts and fiscal issues under the control of the judiciary. At the same time, there is hope that the new government will fulfil what is written in the declaration, namely will strengthen the status and functions of the Judicial Council in matters related to the judiciary's budget, personnel policy, work organization and infrastructure.”
The Chair of the Judicial Council Aigars Strupišs also pointed out that currently the law provides the Judicial Council only with a consultative function in matters of budget and court administration. On July 1, 2022, acting within its authority, the Judicial Council supported the priority measures of district (city) courts and regional courts for 2023-2025 submitted by the Ministry of Justice in the annual budget, where the first priority is to increase the salary of court employees.
Moreover, the Chair of the Judicial Council Aigars Strupišs emphasized that in parallel with the remuneration of court employees, the issue of job descriptions and requirements of court employees should be addressed. "At the meeting of January 13, 2023, the Judicial Council will hear the report of the Working Group on Strengthening the Efficiency of the Courts on the proposals for organizing and improving the institute of court employees, and will decide on the further action plan to improve the situation," said A. Strupišs.
Whereas, the representatives of court staff made several proposals to the members of the Judicial Council for the improvement of the remuneration system of court employees and the efficiency of the court work organization. Namely, they suggested to find an opportunity in 2023 to determine a proportional salary increase of at least 24% for each qualification level of court employees, to observe the principle of equivalence and equality for the salary of court registers, court session secretaries and archivists, to strengthen the independence of the judiciary from the influence of the executive branch, to look for solutions for optimizing the organization of court work and to ensure a unified approach to these issues in all Latvian courts, as well as to increase the prestige of the position of court employees.
The Chair of the Judicial Council Aigars Strupišs is contented with the conversation and draws attention to the fact that there are no disagreements between the representatives of court staff and the Judicial Council regarding the salary issues of court employees. At the same time, the Judicial Council has to continue the work on the implementation of the strategic directions of the Judicial Council.
The Deputy Chair of the Judicial Council Dzintra Balta met with Māris Gerlovess and Dāvids Andris Blehmanis, the judge assistants of the Riga Regional Court, Egija Šteinberga, the deputy head of the Registry of Kurzeme District Court, Anna Briede, the judge assistant at the Zemgale District Court, and Ina Smilškalna, the consultant at the Zemgale District Court.
The Chair of the Judicial Council Aigars Strupišs will continue the discussion on the remuneration of court employees also with representatives of the Ministry of Justice on January 12, 2023.
Additional information:
The Chair of the Judicial Council Aigars Strupišs called on court employees for a conversation in response to the collective letter received on December 1, 2022 from a total of 924 court employees regarding the impact of inflation on the salary of court employees.