The agenda of the extraordinary session on February 2nd includes amendments to a set of laws related to the judiciary. And the fact that Montenegrin MPs did not find time to adopt them by the end of the year will cost judges and prosecutors. Due to the "omission" of the Parliament - on February 1st, they will receive a 30 percent lower salary. This means that those who administer justice will receive the same salary in January as they did until last summer, when they received a raise.
The Association of Judges told Television Vijesti that basic court judges, who already work under the greatest pressure and have the lowest salaries in the system, will be the most affected.
In the New Year, judges and prosecutors will have new, old salaries - their January salaries will be the same as those they received until mid-summer, when they were increased by 30 percent, through a change in the law.
"This change, which was in effect until January 1, is no longer applied, which means that prosecutors and judges of the Constitutional Court will most certainly receive their January salaries without the 30% increase. Back in October, or rather on October 1, the Association of Judges of Montenegro sent an initiative to the Ministry of Justice to react in a timely manner, so that they would not be in a situation where that deadline would be interrupted," said Miodrag Pešić, President of the Association of Judges.
And, the deadline was interrupted because, among other things, the deputies did not adopt amendments to a set of laws by the end of the year that would allow those who administer justice to continue to have increased salaries. This omission will affect the civil judges in the Podgorica Basic Court - one of the most burdened in the country. According to Pešić, their average salaries without a 30 percent increase are around 1.250 euros. Criminals, thanks to on-call and standby duties, receive up to 500 euros more.
"They will be the most affected because their salaries are otherwise the lowest in the system. I must mention that even with this temporary 30% increase in judges' salaries, they were the lowest in the region," said Pešić.
According to data for December at the Basic Court in Podgorica, judge Rade Ćetković earned the most - 2.684 euros, and court president Željka Jovović earned 60 euros less.
In the Higher Court, during December, only two investigative judges, Suzana Mugoša and Goran Šćepanović, earned the most, around three thousand and eight hundred euros. However, on February 800, their salaries will also be lower. Litigation judges will receive between 1.600 and 2.400 euros next month, while judges of the Special Department will remain at around three thousand.
At the Court of Appeal, those who dispense justice received between two thousand five hundred and four thousand euros, which was the salary of the president of that court, Mirjana Popović, and judge Vesna Pean.
The highest salary in the Supreme Court is paid to President Valentina Pavličić, just over four and a half thousand euros. The judges of the Constitutional Court also received bonuses, whose December salaries ranged between 3.100 and 3.700 euros.
The head of the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office, Milorad Marković, earned the most in November, almost 4.700 euros, while the chief special prosecutor, Vladimir Novović, earned about 500 less.
While waiting for the transitional legal solution to be adopted again, the Association of Judges, its president says, will not give up on a systemic law that would permanently regulate salaries.
"Unfortunately, the working group has not been in session since July 25. I expect the work of that working group to intensify, because I believe that Chapter 23 cannot be closed before we adopt that law," said Pešić.
In addition to salaries, Pešić also warns of chronic problems – from the overload of judges to inadequate space capacities, which have been stifling the judiciary for years.
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