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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-07-08
CONTENTS
[01] Justices reject as unconstitutional laws halving rebates they
awarded themselves
[01] Justices reject as unconstitutional laws halving rebates they
awarded themselves
A Greek supreme special court dealing exclusively with salary and pension
issues pertaining to the judiciary on Friday rejected laws cutting
the salary rebates that the same body had awarded to judges in 2013,
finding them unconstitutional and contrary to the obligation to provide
"effective" judicial protection.
The decision is linked to a 2013 ruling, in which the special court had
similarly rejected backdated salary cuts imposed on judges from August
2012 and up to June 30, 2014 - the date when the ruling was published -
awarding them a rebate equal to amounts cut. The then government had
responded by passing laws in 2014 that reduce the amount of this rebate
by half.
In its ruling, the special court found that the statutes reducing the
rebates were contrary to articles in the Constitution governing the
rule of law, which require that the state comply with court decisions,
including those of the Special Court, "so that the judicial protection
provided is effective" as well as the constitutionally enshrined special
salary treatment of the judiciary.
The specific ruling concerns 47 judges that had opposed the salary cuts
in court and its publication will usher in many other similar rulings,
concerning thousands of members of the judiciary.
The nine-member Special Salary Court is responsible for arbitrating
differences concerning the pay and pensions of justices and is made up of
three supreme court judges, three law school professors and three lawyers.
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