Russia aims to stem flow of judges with pay rise

Russian judges have just been given a five per cent pay rise as President Vladimir Putin seeks to solve problems of judicial dissatisfaction which result in as many as 90 per cent of court personnel leaving their posts each year.

31 October 2013

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The salary increase came through at the start of October, but was only signed by the President and put into effect on 30 October. The five per cent rise appears to be being distributed at different rates among different types of judges. Those in the Commercial Court - where there is a 90 per cent turnover in Moscow - will now earn an average of £2,935 per month while district judges will earn a monthly average of £2,035.

Low salaries

The Russian Legal Information Agency refers to Supreme Court Chairman Anton Ivanov as saying in May 'that low salaries in Russian courts remain a major problem, despite all the efforts to change the situation. The personnel turnover in the Moscow Commercial Court reaches 90% a year, and most people quit because of low salaries, according to Ivanov. Meanwhile, the workload in courts is incomparably higher than what it was a decade ago'.