By AUDREY YOUNG
The highest judge in the land, Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias, will be paid $335,000 when the Supreme Court is formed on January 1, and the other judges on the court will be paid $313,900.
That means Supreme Court judges will be paid $21,900 more than judges at the
Court of Appeal - from which they have been promoted.
The new pay rates were set by the Remuneration Authority, formerly known as the Higher Salaries Commission.
Judges have also received a 3 per cent pay rise.
And some will also have their superannuation subsidy boosted in a bid to begin addressing what the authority called the "acute" issue of barriers to recruitment. The value of a scheme set up after 1992 is worth a lot less than those judges who belong to a pre-1992 scheme.
Remuneration Authority chairman Hutton Peacock related the judiciary's security in retirement to judicial independence.
There were three essential elements to judicial independence: security of tenure; financial security; and institutional independence.
He cited a statement by Solicitor-General Terence Arnold this year: "Judicial independence requires that judges as a group have a greater degree of protection from financial concerns than other groups within society.
"They must be free to administer justice through the courts impartially which means they must be comparatively free of financial pressures both while on the bench and after retirement.
"As a matter of principle, it is undesirable that judges become personally involved in significant investment activity while on the bench."
The Supreme Court will replace the Privy Council as the final appellate court.
New pay rates
Chief Justice $335,000
Supreme Court judge $313,900
Court of Appeal President $312,500
Court of Appeal judge $292,000
Chief High Court judge $291,000
High Court judge $272,000
Chief District Court Judge $268,900
Principal Family Court Judge $230,600
Principal Youth Court Judge $223,400
Principal Environment Court Judge $223,400
District Court judge $208,300
Chief Employment Court Judge $268,200
Employment Court judge $242,800
Chief Maori Land Court Judge$236,500
Deputy Chief Maori Land Court Judge $223,800
Maori Land Court judge$208,300
High Court master $208,300
Herald Feature: Supreme Court
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By AUDREY YOUNG
The highest judge in the land, Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias, will be paid $335,000 when the Supreme Court is formed on January 1, and the other judges on the court will be paid $313,900.
That means Supreme Court judges will be paid $21,900 more than judges at the
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