TIME TO ADDRESS THE SCANDAL OF JUDGES AND DEEMSTERS PAY British, Manx and Irish Judges pay is disproportionate in terms of global judicial pay scales The announcement by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny that he is to press ahead with a referendum which will remove a constitutional safeguard on the wages of Ireland's judges is a wake-up call to other communities across the British Isles about the scandal of the pay and perks of the judiciary. Salaries paid to UK (including Manx Deemsters who are analogued to UK scales) and Irish judges are the highest in the World (in fact Ireland is slightly behind the UK). In these difficult economic times, as other classes of public and private workers have had to endure the privation of cuts or freezes in pay, these be-wigged denizens of the High Courts have been immune from such realities. Speaking today Enda Kenny reinforced his determination to proceed with reform stating that Judges were not a special case and could not expect to be treated as such. It is to be hoped that politicians in both the Isle of Man and the United Kingdom also realise that it is time to `call time' on extravagant salaries and the gilt-edged pensions that uniquely amongst public servants the judiciary receive. Irish District court Judges receive salaries ranging from 148,000 Euro and the Circuit Court Judges 177,000 Euro. Meanwhile Deemsters (High Court Judges) in the Isle of Man are even better paid and receive up to £173000 in line with Group 3 on the UK Judicial Salary Structure. However, pay is just the tip of the iceberg and `fringe benefits' are also generous. UK and Manx Judges can expect to walk away with a 50% pension after 20 years aggregated service. All this for what the last job specification for a Deemster described as no pre-determined hours of work. Meanwhile equivalent High Court Judges in both the United States and France earn roughly dollars200,000 whilst those serving in Germany earned just dollars108,000. A quick calculation at today's exchange rates indicates the staggering difference between these pay scales and those of their greedy UK, Manx and Irish
colleagues! J B Moffatt (Mr)
Director of Information
Celtic League 29/04/11 The Celtic League has branches in the six Celtic Countries. It works to promote cooperation between these countries and campaigns on a broad range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It highlights
human rights abuse, monitors all military activity and focuses on socio-economic issues. TEL (UK)01624 877918 MOBILE (UK)07624 491609 Internet site at: (voir le site)
(voir le site)