In recent years, salaries in the justice system have been prioritized in institutions working in the field of security, while the issue of remuneration for judges' assistants in Riga remains problematic, said Justice Minister Inese Lībinja-Égnere in an interview with LETA, LETA reports.
The minister emphasized that the increase in salaries in previous budgets primarily concerned the Administration of Prisons (AP) and the State Probation Service (SPS), as the work of these institutions is closely related to state security.
Salaries were also increased in the Register of Enterprises to strengthen its potential in economic matters.
The minister acknowledged that the Ministry of Justice (MJ) is not among the highest-paying institutions in a general comparison of salaries among ministries, and it is necessary to think about how to motivate employees, as there are workers who pass the competition for the position of judge or prosecutor, but some of them leave to work in other ministries.
The MJ must be able to compete with both other ministries and the private sector, emphasized Lībinja-Égnere.
The turnover of staff in the positions of judges' assistants in Riga is high compared to the regions, as the level of remuneration in the regions is competitive, while in Riga it is insufficient, concluded the minister.
The Council for the Judiciary is currently working on a reform that will require a master's degree in law for court support staff in the future. Lībinja-Égnere explained that with the increase in the category of the position, the salary will also rise.
A transitional period may be established for current employees to obtain a master's degree.
The minister reported that there are currently about 30 unfilled vacancies for judges, and some of them may remain unfilled in order to redirect the saved funds to support the support staff.
In the long term, the position of judges' assistant may be renamed to judicial lawyer with higher qualification and salary requirements, as well as a clearer career path to the position of judge, the minister explained.
Commenting on the distribution of the judicial budget, the minister noted that currently the Supreme Court (SC) independently forms its budget, while the budget requests of city and district courts are prepared by the ministry. The possibility of forming a unified budget request for courts of all three instances in the future is being discussed.
Lībinja-Égnere emphasized that so far the judiciary has not faced funding cuts, including in the area of salaries, which confirms the state's priority in ensuring an independent judiciary.
