Slovenian judges began a two-week protest on Wednesday to express their frustration at the government’s failure to bring their salaries in line with those of the most senior officials in the other two branches of government – a move they said would have them delay proceedings on a case-by-case basis.
In June last year, the Constitutional Court ruled that judges’ salaries were too low, violating the principle of judicial independence and the separation of powers.
However, the same decision gave the legislature six months – until 3 January 2024 – to ensure compliance with the constitution, but the government insists that judicial salaries will be tackled as part of the wider public sector salary reform, which, despite being under discussion for months, was recently derailed by the huge cost of post-flood reconstruction.
The decision to stage the strike, the first of its kind in the Slovenian judiciary, was made by the Association of Judges last week after judges and prosecutors suspended their work for an hour to make their case.
The reason for the full two-week strike is “the ignoring of the Constitutional Court decision that protects the independence of the judiciary against the executive and legislative branches of power,” the Association of Judges has said.
Over the next two weeks, courts will be in session handling some cases, but many hearings have already been cancelled. The judges themselves will decide on the cancellation of hearings on a case-by-case basis.
While judges are allowed by law to go on strike, this is not a formal strike.
According to Strike Law, it is a protest similar to a go-slow: a form of action in which work is deliberately delayed or slowed down.
(Zlatko Midžić | sta.si)
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Source: euractiv.com
