The moment was not chosen at random. As he opens the cycle of discussions of the Estates General of Justice, Eric Dupond-Moretti promised, Monday, September 12, a salary increase to magistrates. An increase of 1,000 euros gross per month for judicial judges.
Who will benefit from it?
Only those who work in the civil and criminal courts will benefit from this increase in their remuneration. Just over 9,300 magistrates whose salary had not changed for 25 years, according to the Minister of Justice. Above all, they were paid on average 20% less than the magistrates of the administrative order. The latter have the status of civil servants and work in the administrative courts or the Council of State, for example.
“It’s around 1,000 euros per month, on average, gross. It’s considerable. I wanted to do this to upgrade the judicial order and the administrative order. It is normal for magistrates get better paid.”
Eric Dupond-Moretti, Minister of Justiceon RMC-BFMTV
What is the current remuneration of magistrates?
With this revaluation, put in place from October 2023, Éric Dupond Moretti says he wants to align the salaries of these two types of magistrates and put an end to years “of abandonment” according to him for the magistrates of the judicial order. The idea is also to make this profession more attractive. The ministry aims to recruit 1,500 magistrates by the end of the five-year term. But currently a magistrate of the judiciary just out of school, earns a little less than 2,000 euros gross per month.
This announcement must therefore make it possible, according to the Ministry of Justice, to attract young people to the judiciary. Éric Dupond-Moretti also promises an upgrade for clerks: 250 euros gross per month by the end of 2023.
What is the political objective?
This financial gesture is also part of a context of unprecedented anger in the world of the judiciary. We remember this forum signed by more than 3,000 magistrates, or a third of the profession, in the newspaper The world last December. They denounced their suffering at work, longer days and abusive justice. A few months later, a report was submitted to Emmanuel Macron as part of the Estates General of Justice. There too, the authors denounced a justice system in a state of disrepair.
What do the unions of the judiciary think?
The main magistrates’ unions are delighted with this revaluation, with two caveats. For the magistrates’ union and the magistrates’ union, being better paid is positive, but the main problem remains that of working conditions and the number of magistrates which they consider insufficient. Samra Lambert, national secretary of the Syndicat de la magistrature, reminds Franceinfo on Monday that “It is not really understanding the heart of the problem to talk about a salary increase. There is no problem of attractiveness but we want guarantees.”
“No plan has been presented to us on these announced massive recruitments. When we talk about losing meaning in our job, working better, being able to listen to people beyond five minutes and judge them decently, we’re not talking about being better paid.”
Samra Lambert, national secretary of the Magistrates’ Unionat franceinfo
The other question concerns the financing of these salaries. The Ministry of Justice wants to be reassuring and recalls that its budget has been increased by 8% in 2022 and by 44% in total since the start of Emmanuel Macron’s presidency. “It’s a good thing but now we have to see what we put in this 8%says Samra Lambert. If it is still the construction of prison places, it is not without asking questions since we have seen the limits of this operation. It is important for us to drastically rethink what is expected of justice in France.”