Austerity Measures Prompt Bulgarian Judiciary to Freeze Wages

Bulgaria's Supreme Judicial Council is expected to freeze the wages within the judiciary as part of the budget austerity measures. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria’s Supreme Judicial Council (VSS) is most likely going to impose a moratorium on the increase of magistrates’ salaries because of the need to cut expenses.

Under Bulgarian law, judicial system employees get raises in accordance with the growth of the average salary and the rise of the inflation. The magistrates’ wages are usually update each summer.

The Budget Committee of the VSS decided Wednesday to propose a freeze of the payments of judges and prosecutors as a result of the austerity measures necessitated by the tough state finances.

The proposal for “a moratorium on the updating of base salaries of judicial system employees” has been tabled, and the Supreme Judicial Council will have to discuss it and decide on it during its regular meeting on Thursday.

The base monthly salaries in Bulgaria’s judiciary range between BGN 1 300 – for a low-level magistrate – to BGN 3 000 for the supreme judges and prosecutors, not counting in any bonuses for serving certain periods within the system.

In January-February, the Bulgarian judges and the government got tangled in a scandal over the intention of Finance Minister Simeon Djankov not to provide money for the Christmas bonuses of the magistrates. After energetic protests and meetings with Justice Minister Margarita Popova and Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, the judges eventually had their way.

This time, however, the initiative to freeze their wages comes from within the judicial system, which makes it very likely that the measure will be approved.

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