The envelope promised by the Chancellery amounts to 30 million euros per quarter, from the end of 2023.
This is necessary if the Ministry of Justice wants to keep its commitment to hire 1,500 magistrates over the five-year term without cutting corners on the excellence of recruitment. Éric Dupond-Moretti has announced that he wants to increase the body of 9,000 magistrates of the judiciary by an average of 1,000 euros. This is the only increase granted since 1996, apart from a microrevaluation in 2013. The Keeper of the Seals thus affirms that he wants to put an end to “years of abandonmentand tackle the problems of “attractiveness” of the judiciary.
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This is a first response to an order that shouts “misery!”, as much for its working conditions as for its remuneration. Last July, the new promotion of students from the National School of the Judiciary had chosen as the promotion name “Tribune des 3000” in reference to the platform which, last December, had thrown the magistrates into the street. This initiative of the new auditors had been variously appreciated by the body of magistrates.
30 million euros per quarter
The envelope promised by the Chancellery will amount to 30 million euros and will take place in the last quarter of 2023. It will be extended, still at the rate of 30 million euros per quarter, by an envelope of 120 million euros in 2024 In other words, the Ministry of Justice intends to sanctuary this revaluation in the long term and assumes a budget which will not decrease in the next years of the five-year term.
The first beneficiaries will concern young magistrates of the first grade whose salary today is 2000 euros gross. This increase, which could be for the latter of 1200 euros, will be decreasing for the higher grades. If the basic salary is not concerned, the revaluation will apply to all flat-rate and modular premiums. It remains to be seen whether or not these sums will enter into the calculation of magistrates’ pensions.
“I want the magistrates of the judicial order to be paid like the magistrates of the administrative order“, indicated on BFMTV the Minister of Justice. This effort on the attractiveness in terms of remuneration aims to maintain the level of recruitment and above all to allow bridges between the two orders of magistrates, judicial and administrative.
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Since the summer, in fact, the magistrates’ unions have been protesting about the salary differential between the two orders. During the first consultation with the social partners, after the publication of the Estates General of Justice, the Magistrates’ Units union had put the subject on the table, while the Union of Magistrates’ Union had conditioned its participation in this cycle of exchange at the start of a vast social negotiation. A point awarded by the Minister of Justice, who will receive the majority union for the first time in two years this Friday. “Young magistrates, particularly those in the Paris region, are particularly affected by low salaries“.
“The fact of the prince”
However, Béatrice Brugère, president of the Magistrates’ Unit, cannot help but regret “that once again, this decision is made by the prince and that it was unfortunately not discussed with the social partners even though it was the first demand that we put on the table during our meeting in July“.
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