High Council of Justice Gives Judges Big Pay Hike
On November 11, the High Council of Justice (HCOJ) of Georgia decided to give its judges a big pay raise. This decision was made while there are ongoing court cases about problems with the recent parliamentary elections.
Judges will get half their official salary as a bonus, which is over 685,000 GEL (around $250,000 USD). The HCOJ is in charge of paying this bonus, and doesn’t need approval from the government.
The organization Court Watch keeps track of how much money judges make. According to them, the official salaries for different positions are:
* Chairman of the Court of Appeal: 5,800 GEL
* Deputy Chairman of the Court of Appeal: 5,600 GEL
* Chairman of the Chamber of the Court of Appeal: 5,300 GEL
* Judge of the Court of Appeal: 5,000 GEL
* Chairman of the district (city) court: 4,600 GEL
* District (city) court panel chairman: 4,300 GEL
* District (city) court judge, magistrate judge: 4,000 GEL
Court Watch says that this pay raise is so judges will be loyal to the system. They think that the HCOJ wants its judges to do what they’re told.
This decision comes at a time when people are losing trust in the court system. Some judges have made decisions that people disagree with. One judge, Vladimer Khuchua, recently ruled that some votes from the October 26 parliamentary elections were not secret, as required by law. But another judge later overruled his decision.
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