South China Morning Post - Hong Kong feedToday, 04:36
Judges have been given a pay rise of 4.41 per cent – slightly more generous than the increase received by high-ranking civil servants – amid “persistent difficulties” in recruiting experienced lawyers to senior benches.
Only 37 of the 59 positions at High Court level, comprising the Court of First Instance (CFI) and the Court of Appeal, were filled by March, according to the Standing Committee on Judicial Salaries and Conditions of Service which recommended the latest pay rise.
“The number of eligible candidates found suitable for appointment was much smaller than the available vacancies,” the committee said in a report. It cited “clear evidence [of] persistent recruitment difficulties at the CFI level”.
Only barristers and solicitors with over 10 years’ practice can join the High Court, although normally only lawyers with much more experience are hired.
A drop in pay would be one major consideration, as experienced lawyers could be earning 10 times more than a judge, according to a person familiar with remuneration matters.
Under the revised pay scale, the starting monthly salary for a High Court judge would be HK$255,752.
Apart from salaries, the increasingly complex nature of cases handled in the High Court could be a deterrent, as the judiciary told the committee that new developments in law, such as the introduction of the Competition Ordinance, had led to heavy workloads.
The pay rise, backdated to April 1, was announced yesterday as the Chief Executive in Council accepted the committee’s recommendation. It exceeds the 3.96 per cent rise for civil servants in the upper salary band and above.
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1863080/judges-get-44pc-pay-rise-persistent-difficulties-recruiting
