For the first seven months of 2011, judges, together with other public officials took a reduction in their salaries of approximately €300. The shortfall was restored three and a half years later after they opposed an amendment by former speaker of parliament Richard Sulík (Freedom and Solidarity-SaS) in the Constitutional Court in 2013. They were awarded the difference between the full and reduced salaries but they were not granted the interest that had accrued. This amounts to approximately €700 for each single judge, the Sme daily wrote on September 14.
The judges have filed lawsuits to reclaim the interest from the delay which is nine percent of the due sum annually, the TASR newswire reported.
It is not clear how many judges decided to demand this interest from the state; the Justice Ministry’s lawyers have so far evaluated around 60 lawsuits but estimates that there are many more of them. The judges are suing the courts in which they are employed directly, while the Slovak Republic is only in second line, TASR wrote.