Clarification on salaries of judges

The presses spread information that the rights of judges are violated and that “the authorities are depriving them of additional payments with the pretext of increase of salaries” by 60%.

We would like to inform that this information is, at the very least, the result of misunderstanding, including in the context of the concepts "supplement" and "additional payment." Consequently, the claim that judges will not be remunerated in cases of working overtime, at night, on holidays and on weekends, is false: they will simply not receive the supplement for the work performed on non-working days, that is, holidays and days of remembrance, as well as for work performed overtime and at night.

However, as a result of the new legislative initiative, the amendments proposed under the Law "On remuneration for persons holding state positions and state service positions" prescribe supplement in the amount of 60% for the judges of courts of first instance, and in the amount of 55% for the judges of the Court of Appeal. The fund for remuneration for extra work will be about AMD 1 billion 640 million.

At the same time, it should be mentioned that similar legal regulations have been in force since May 2023 as a result of the legislative amendments made in regard to the judges of the Anti-Corruption Court and it has been about half a year since the mentioned regulations have been applied in the Anti-Corruption Court of First Instance.

Consequently, in order to refrain from making false claims and providing misleading information to the public, we urge to study the submitted draft laws in more detail.