Ombudsperson: The financial gap between special judges and prosecutors should be reviewed

The Ombudsperson Institution has issued an official opinion on the risk allowance received by judges of the Special Department, suggesting that the way they are financially compensated requires a fresh assessment.

The document emphasizes the need to analyze this allowance in light of similar positions within the criminal justice system, with the aim of achieving fairer and more unified treatment.

Based on the principle of equal pay for work of equal value, the Ombudsperson argues that positions carrying comparable responsibilities and social and professional importance should also receive equal financial compensation.

The opinion underlines that, although the institutional roles of judges in this department and those of prosecutors in the Special Prosecution Office are different, both sides deal with exceptionally complex and sensitive criminal cases, bearing significant responsibilities.

According to the Ombudsperson, if the continuing difference in pay between these two bodies is not justified by objective and proportionate arguments, it risks conflicting with the constitutional guarantees of judicial independence in Kosovo.

In the same vein, the opinion states that these financial inequalities may affect perceptions of material security, internal motivation, and the institutional status itself of judges in the Special Department.

The Ombudsperson explains that the purpose of this review is not to harm or reduce the acquired rights of any group, but to open a discussion on a more harmonized approach to determining the risk allowance.

Such harmonization, taking into account the financial treatment of similar functions as well as the specific features and decision-making responsibility of judges, would help strengthen the coherence and efficiency of the justice system as a whole, the document concludes.