Remuneration of judges' labor

The remuneration of judges varies according to judicial instances and positions held in the judicial system.

The payment of judges varies according to judicial instances and positions held in the judicial system.

The compensation of judges consists of remuneration and salary supplements. The judge's salary rate is precisely established by the Organic Law.
Determining the supplement for judges of the district (city) and appellate courts is the prerogative of the High Council of Justice. According to the decree of the council, from January 2022, 1, the judges' supplement was determined in an updated amount.

Exceptions are Supreme Court judges, for whom the amount of the supplement is determined by the plenum of the Supreme Court.

What is the remuneration of judges today? We will present the answer to this question in this article.

District (city ) courts

District (City) Court Judge:

• Salary of District (City) Court judge and Magistrate Judge - 4000 gel per month.
• Supplement - 2600 gel per month.

Judge of Tbilisi, Batumi, and Kutaisi city courts:

• The salary is the same as that of a district (city) court judge, and the amount of the supplement is different and amounts to 3300 gel.

Chairman of the board of the district (city) court:

• Salary - 4300 gel per month.
• Supplement for chairmen of Tbilisi City Court collegiums-3400 gel per month.

Chairman of the district (city) court:

• Salary - 4600 gel per month
• Supplement - 2800 gel per month.

Chairmen of Tbilisi, Batumi, and Kutaisi city courts:

• Remuneration is the same in all district (city) courts. However, the amount of the supplement in individual city courts varies. In particular, the supplement for the chairmen of Tbilisi, Batumi, and Kutaisi city courts is 3500 gel.

Tbilisi and Kutaisi appeal courts

Court of Appeal judge:

• Salary of a judge of the court of Appeals - 5000 gel per month.
• Supplement - 2950 gel per month.

Chairman of the chamber (collegium) of the Court of Appeals:

• Salary of the chairman of the chamber (collegium) of the Court of Appeals - 5300 gel per month.
• Supplement- 3050 gel per month.

Deputy chairman of the court of Appeals:

• Salary of the deputy chairman of the court of Appeals - 5600 gel per month
• Supplement 3150 gel per month.

Chairman of the Court of Appeals:

• Salary of the chairman of the court of Appeals - 5800 gel per month.
• Supplement-3200 gel per month.

Supreme Court of Georgia

Supreme Court Judge:

• Salary of Supreme Court Judge - 6000 gel per month;
• Salary of the deputy chairman of the Supreme Court - 6300 gel per month;
• Salary of the first deputy chairman of the Supreme Court - 6500 gel per month;
• Salary of the chairman of the Supreme Court - 7 000 gel per month.

On September 2022, 21, the Georgian Court Watch appealed to the Supreme Court of Georgia to request public information about the supplements of judges. Unfortunately, they did not provide detailed information and referred us to the resolution of the plenum of January 2020, 16, N2/PL-2020 and 2020, N18, 39/PL-2020, which is not publicly available. In case the Supreme Court provides us with the order based on our Re-Request, we will update the data on the supplements of the judges of the Supreme Court.

The Georgian Court Watch studied the declarations of the judges of the Supreme Court, including the chairman and deputies, as a result of which it becomes clear that the supplements of these officials are from 5200 gel to 5900 gel (including income tax). Supplements are determined by the positions occupied.

Other complements

• According to the decree of the High Council of Justice, judges of common courts (except the Supreme Court of Georgia), together with the monthly salary supplement in April 2022, were determined with the salary supplement in the amount of 50% of the base pay.
• In accordance with the decree of the High Council of Justice, judges of common courts (except for the Supreme Court of Georgia), together with the monthly supplement in December 2021, were determined with the supplement in the amount of 100% of the base salary.

The purpose of artificially increasing the salary established by the law is to increase it collectively and permanently, which goes beyond the essence of the supplement.

According to the law of Georgia "on the remuneration of labor in a public institution", the salary supplement is provided for a person employed in a public institution:

For the performance of overtime work and/or additional functions, including during night hours on holidays/holidays and activities in working conditions that pose a health risk.

These circumstances shall not be taken into consideration when imposing a supplement on judges. It is not determined individually, but by the decision of the High Council of Justice of Georgia, at the beginning of each year, it is imposed on the judges' Corps in the form of a monthly supplement to the official salary established by the Organic Law.


According to international legal standards in the field of Justice, the remuneration of judges shall be determined by law (in full and not in part). According to Bangalore rules, there are three minimum requirements for ensuring the independence of judges:

• Lifetime appointment;
• Material well – being-that is, the right to receive wages and pension payments in the amount established by law;
• Institutional independence.

Therefore, the principle of determining the remuneration of a judge by law is one of the important factors for their independence. It ensures the financial stability of the judge so that the latter does not become vulnerable to the decision-making by any body/persons regarding their material condition.

Another additional lever in the hands of the Council of Justice - determining the monthly remuneration for judges, in fact, the second part of the salary, is a mechanism of collective impact on the judicial Corps.

When observing the numerical data presented above, the high income of the chairmen of courts and their deputies, chairmen of collegiums is also noticeable, which looks too disproportionate compared to their obscure functions.

The financial stability of judges is a guarantee of their individual independence and impartiality towards the parties. The position of Judge shall be occupied by competent and conscientious persons, whose work shall be duly compensated in the amount determined by the Organic Law of Georgia.

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