The Ministry of Justice and Administration said on Monday it was withdrawing the proposal to amend the Judges and Judicial Officials' Pay Act and that it would put forward a new one after further consultations with the task force.

The next meeting of the task force is scheduled for Wednesday, 26 April, the Ministry said briefly.

Last week the State Secretary at the Ministry of Justice and Administration, Juro Martinovic, said that the pay of first-instance court judges in Croatia would be increased by 22-24% as of 1 August, meaning that the lowest pay would be about €2,000, while the base pay of other judicial officials would go up by 8%.

“Initially, we will increase base pay for all judicial officials by 8%. Pay indices for judges of municipal courts and first-instance commercial and administrative courts will be increased by about 14%, while pay for first-instance court judges and deputy municipal attorneys will go up by 22-24%,” Martinovic said after a third meeting of the task force dealing with the pay of judges and other judicial officials.

The proposal to amend the Act is expected to be adopted by Parliament before its summer recess, and the payment of increased salaries would start as of 1 August, Martinovićc said.

The next day, the Croatian Judges’ Association (UHS) said that no agreement had been reached between the representatives of the Ministry and the judges who are members of the task force at their meeting on 19 April.

The UHS said that the Ministry’s representatives had insisted on their proposal without accepting any of the proposals or suggestions from the judges.