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Marina Nikolova

Judges do not want to become civil servants, because they have the privileges of deputies and government members as major executors of one of the three main authorities of the state - legislative, executive and judiciary. Their demands are newly appointed judges not to be included in the IKA insurances, the payment scheme for judges, which is guaranteed by the constitution, to be kept, and judges to be permanently appointed on the vacant positions, said the chairman of the union of judicial officials Haralambos Athanasiou in an interview with grreporter.info.

"According to Article 88 of the constitution, judges have a special payment plan like lawmakers and government members. And according to the constitution, the payment corresponds to the position. The working conditions of the judges are different from those of the civil servants. The judge's work can be impaired neither in terms of quality, nor in relation to working hours. The judges work under very difficult conditions and this kind of service is properly paid according to the constitution," said Athanasiou.

Employees who work under employment contracts in the field of private law with a dependency relationship with the employer are insured at IKA. Judges in the field of public law are related to the state as an employer. They are direct state authorities and as officials of the third power of the state, court officials enjoy the same privileges as the employees of the two other authorities – executive and legislative, i.e. the deputies and members of the government, summarized the chairman of the union of judicial officials.

In his opinion, if lawmakers and members of the government are not insured at IKA, there is no reason the judges to be transferred there.

"This is an unconstitutional provision, which we believe the government will withdraw. If it does not withdraw it complaints to the courts will be made and we think that it will be declared void. If we accept this provision, this means that we will become civil servants, which has its consequences, both for the independence of the judiciary systems and the functioning of the courts. Because then the judges will be considered to be dependent on their employer and this employer of theirs is the government. The only limits for judges are enshrined in the constitution. Even to revise the constitution, judges can not become civil servants, because it would be contrary to the principles of the legal state for the independent and equal three powers - executive, legislative and judicial," clarified Haralambos Athanasiou.

"It is likely the judges to stop working on weekends and holidays. We are being compensated for the fast conclusion of court cases and for making a library at home. If a family needs three rooms, the judge’s family needs four rooms, because one of them will be for an office and this has its costs. We have subscriptions to all legal journals. But the most important thing is that we do not work as civil servants to three o'clock in the afternoon and then go back home to take a rest. Judges work in the afternoon, in the morning, at night and during holidays, so that to close the cases faster. And all this is paid. It's like the duty rosters of doctors in the health system – they are being paid for the night duties or like the compensation of deputies to participate in parliamentary committees. These benefits are independent of wages. If this benefit is cancelled, there is no reason to work at home in the afternoon. This means that it will slow down our work. Its volume will decrease by about 70-75%, because as I mentioned we do most of the work at home overtime and during holidays. The consequences for the state will be legal proceedings by the European Court for delayed justice and on the other hand, the citizens will be dissatisfied with the delay of the cases. Some journalists have started to talk about a "white strike" but we, the judges, do not strike. In fact, many of the present cases will not be considered on time if the judges do not work in the holidays," said Athanasiou.

The chairman of the chairman of the union of judicial officials pointed out that it is important to protect the buildings of the courts too. He said that the necessary measures should be taken to protect all who enter the courts and work there, and a relevant study is being held currently. According to him, it is not about security measures for possible attacks against the buildings or the staff, but about security measures so as not to lose case files that must be kept and archived. "Guards of the buildings are needed, but we have asked the Ministry for Citizens Protection to take the necessary measures," concluded Athanasiou.