Give us more pay, says £200k-a-year judge

JUDGES need a pay rise, a senior justice on a £200,000 salary has said.

Lord Justice Gross, who sits in the Court of Appeal, made the comments in a speech to the Institute of Maritime Law on Wednesday.

He said: “No one goes into the Judiciary to make money. But there comes a point when pay is so far out of line with the private sector market that it endangers recruitment. More than the money, there is the perception that these issues reflect government not valuing the Judiciary.”

He added that changes to pensions had forced upon younger judges a career-average scheme that was less generous than a final salary pension plan, and this had “significantly aggravated” the problem.

He added it was important that the quality of the legal system should be maintained so businesses and individuals continued to be attracted to work in the London courts after Brexit.

The Lord Chief Justice recently stated in his annual report that there were “significant difficulties” recruiting judges to senior levels. “Any failure to address the problems of pay and pensions will have a serious impact on morale and on recruitment,” the report stated.

Yesterday, a report from the House of Lords constitution committee said it was “seriously concerned” about the problem of recruiting judges, in particular to the High Court.

The House of Lords report noted the “growing disparity” between public and private-sector jobs but added that due to public sector pay restrictions it was “unlikely judicial pay will increase in a way that significantly reduces this difference”.

The Judicial Attitudes Survey, published last year, revealed that of the judges questioned, 78 per cent said they had experienced a loss of net earnings over the last two years.

The most recent figures show that judges are paid between £85,954 and £252,079. As a Lord Justice of Appeal, Lord Justice Gross is paid £206,742, up from £202,668 in 2015. He has been sitting in the Court of Appeal since 2010.

High Court judges are paid a salary of £181,566, while judges sitting at the Old Bailey have a £145,614 pay packet.