Bar Association opposes reduction of salaries of justices, judges

The CNMI Bar Association’s committee for an independent judiciary has opposed a Senate bill that proposed a 10 percent across the board reduction of the salaries of the Commonwealth’s justices and judges.

The Bar’s committee said they believe that cutting judicial salaries is a “penny wise and pound foolish” decision.

“The people and economy of the CNMI deserve adjudicators only of the highest qualifications and integrity and the CNMI government should remain committed to that proposition by continuing to pay the present salaries,” said the committee in an e-mail to Saipan Tribune.

The committee members are attorneys Sean Frink and Robert O’Connor.

O’Connor told [I]Saipan Tribune[/I] yesterday that the Bar Association’s Board of Directors approved the committee’s position when they presented it.

Last month, the Senate approved the bill, sponsored by Sen. Maria Pangelinan, that seeks cutting the salaries of the justices and judges by 10 percent.

The bill will cut the salary of the chief justice from $130,000 to $117,000. The salary of each associate justice will be reduced from $126,000 to $113,400.

With respect to the presiding judge, the salary will be lowered from $123,000 to $110,700. The salary of each associate judge will decrease from $120,000 to $108,000.

The bill states that the tax base cannot continue to support the Judiciary’s large payroll.

But the Bar Association’s committee for an independent judiciary opposed the bill.

“Indeed, it is our understanding that the Judicial Branch of our government, one of the three co-equal branches, only receives about two percent of our government’s operating expenses,” the committee said.

Cutting the judiciary’s budget further is not the place to start, the committee said. It explained that the role of the judiciary is to uphold the rule of law separate from politics or personal morality.

“The bedrock of an ordered society is the rule of law, and it extends not only to self-government but also as the foundation for personal and economic development,” the committee said.

It pointed out that the protections of the rule of law, however, only go so far as their enforcement by the courts.

An independent judiciary, therefore, is essential to the CNMI and its families and citizenry, the committee said.

The NMI Constitution charges the CNMI judiciary with ultimate authority over the life, relationships, freedoms, rights, duties, and properties of the people.

“Indeed, beyond the power judges and justices hold over our familial and personal lives, our economy is dependent upon investor confidence that disputes will be tried by a judiciary that is competent and free from improper influence,” the committee said.