Lebanese magistrates take theirs oath of service. (Credit: AFP Archives)
The decision to increase judges’ salaries, which was announced last week in the media, continues to cause heated backlash in a country where most civil servants’ salaries are so low that they no longer afford the drive to work in their own cars.
The judges, on the other hand, can now withdraw their salaries at the LL8,000-US$1 exchange rate, rather than the official rate at LL1,500. This measure has been criticized as “illegal” and treating other civil servants “unequally.”
The decision was not mandated in a circular from Banque du Liban Governor Riad Salameh, but via his instructions to banking institutions. Critics of the BDL’s measure argue that the sums involved are taken from the public purse, and that such funds can only be allocated by law.
A source close to Justice Minister Henri Khoury told L’Orient-Le Jour that the amounts raised to pay the judges do not come from state coffers, but from the judges’ mutual fund. This is an internal decision, the source added, requiring that the fund pay the difference between the salaries based on the LL8,000-US$1 exchange rate and the salaries paid by the state at the official rate at LL1,500.
The total sum of salary increase amounts to around $200,000, according to a source in judicial circles. This sum is currently available, as the mutual fund is replenished by fees paid by litigants, magistrates’ contributions and donations.
The justice minister believes there should be no debate about magistrates’ salaries. Contacted by L’Orient-Le Jour, he recalled that these salaries must be higher than those of ordinary civil servants in any case, noting that during the 1960s they were nearly four times higher than those of functionaries.
He also regretted the fact that today “a judge earns an average of LL4 million, while the salary of a university professor, for instance, can hit 10 million.” An increase in remuneration is vital in order to ensure that judges continue to dispense justice without worrying about their most basic needs,” said Khoury, who is himself a former judge.
According to information obtained by L’Orient-Le Jour, a dozen judges, in cooperation with the mutual fund, had repeatedly urged the BDL governor to find a solution that would address the material concerns of all their colleagues. Salameh’s decision does not seem to have been taken together with Prime-Minister designate Najib Mikati or the justice minister, contrary to the claims of some media outlets.
Financial engineering
It should be noted that many magistrates have refused to accept the pay rise, including Court of Cassation Public Prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat.
Contacted by L’Orient-Le Jour, a female magistrate opposing the salary increase refused to disclose the reasons for her decision, invoking professional confidentiality. Several other lawyers who were interviewed said they were in favor of increasing the judges’ financial means, but considered that “the measure was not adopted in accordance with legal procedures.”
Said Malek, a constitutional expert, described the increase as “an [act of] financial engineering, through which the BDL governor bribes the magistrates.”
“How,” Said asked, “can a judge now rule against BDL’s interests in a case?”
In the same vein, Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said yesterday that “the decision seems like giving a bribe to the judiciary, which harms its image even more.”
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday called for its “rectification,” even its “immediate suspension.”
This story was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour, translated by Joelle Khoury.