The Judicial Officers (Remuneration and Other Entitlements) Bill 2024 soon to be tabled before the National Assembly by the Honourable Attorney General and Minister of Justice for the 2nd time, seeks implementation of this provision of the 1997 Constitution for judges, as well as other judicial officers.
The tabling of the Bill has generated concerns from the public as to the entitlement of judicial officers to the conditions of service contained in the bill, necessitating the issuing of this statement to explain the rationale for the bill and its purport for better understanding and appreciation of all. While acknowledging citizens’ unfettered right to scrutinize and critique the bill, the GBA encourages careful and objective reading of it. This we hope will help bring clarity to the discussion of the bill based on the facts and the context.
It is important to note that the purpose of the bill is to provide structured legal framework to govern the compensation and benefits of judicial officers. Unlike, other arms of Government, the judiciary does not have specific legislation as required by the constitution to govern the its remuneration and benefits.
It is important to state that the bill does not contain any provision to increase the salaries of Judicial Officers as such the enactment of this bill will not result in the increment of the salary of judicial officers as widely reported in the media. The Bill rather provides that the Judicial Service Commission shall whenever government conducts public service pay review, inquire into the adequacy of the emoluments payable to judicial officers and submit report to the President for approval. The Bill stipulates that any increase in salary of judicial officers shall take into consideration amongst other things the financial conditions of the Government.
