LexisNexis Global

One of the critical components of the Rule of Law is a fair and independent Judiciary. This means that laws are administered without influence of governments or special interests.

A driving force behind an independent judiciary is appropriate compensation of Judges. Judicial compensation drives legal experts to pursue careers in the judiciary. By having competitive compensation, the judiciary can attract the best and the brightest and compete for candidates with the private sector.

Another benefit of appropriate compensation is the mitigation of corruption in the judiciary, in some developing countries, judicial compensation barely meets cost of living. In these economies, the judiciary is especially susceptible to corruption.

And yet, this is not a developing nation issue only. In the US federal judicial salaries have not received even a cost of living increase in almost 20 years! It is amazing to me that the same people we place in the trust of our system of the Rule of Law are not compensated even at the level of the average first year graduate of law school!

I look forward to you comments and insight on this.