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The decision to increase judges’ salaries, which was announced last week in the media, continues to cause heated backlash. The judges, on the other hand, can now withdraw their salaries at the LL8,000-US$1 exchange rate, rather than the official rate at LL1,500. This measure has been criticized as “illegal” and treating other civil servants “unequally.”

The decision was not mandated in a circular from Banque du Liban Governor Riad Salameh, but via his instructions to banking institutions. Critics of the BDL’s measure argue that the sums involved are taken from the public purse, and that such funds can only be allocated by law.

A source close to Justice Minister Henri Khoury told L’Orient-Le Jour that the amounts raised to pay the judges do not come from state coffers, but from the judges’ mutual fund. This is an internal decision, the source added, requiring that the fund pay the difference between the salaries based on the LL8,000-US$1 exchange rate and the salaries paid by the state at the official rate at LL1,500. The total sum of salary increase amounts to around $200,000, according to a source in judicial circles. This sum is currently available, as the mutual fund is replenished by fees paid by litigants, magistrates’ contributions and donations.

According to information obtained by L’Orient-Le Jour, a dozen judges, in cooperation with the mutual fund, had repeatedly urged the BDL governor to find a solution that would address the material concerns of all their colleagues. Salameh’s decision does not seem to have been taken together with Prime-Minister designate Najib Mikati or the justice minister, contrary to the claims of some media outlets.

It should be noted that many magistrates have refused to accept the pay rise, including Court of Cassation Public Prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat. Contacted by L’Orient-Le Jour, a female magistrate opposing the salary increase refused to disclose the reasons for her decision, invoking professional confidentiality. Several other lawyers who were interviewed said they were in favor of increasing the judges’ financial means, but considered that “the measure was not adopted in accordance with legal procedures.” Said Malek, a constitutional expert, described the increase as “an [act of] financial engineering, through which the BDL governor bribes the magistrates.”