Judges in BiH Paid Hundreds of Thousands of KM Even Though They Did Not Show Up for Work

According to the existing Law on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, for four leadership positions in this institution, it is possible to work one job but receive two salaries.

BIRN writes, as reported by the Patria news agency, that Milorad Novković held one of those positions for eight years. Novković was appointed as a member of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) in mid-2006. Two years later, he became the president of this institution and from then on did not come to his workplace at the District Court in Banja Luka, but regularly received his salary.

These two institutions paid Novković at least 490,000 convertible marks (KM) from mid-2006 to mid-2014.

Using the same legal possibility, Zijad Kadrić, as a full-time member of the HJPC, received at least 360,000 KM in the past six years.

In addition to these legal benefits, one can also earn well from daily allowances at the HJPC, which auditors have been warning about for years. Thus, Kadrić was paid a total of 53,000 KM in daily allowances, of which he received nearly 17,000 KM in 2012 alone.

- Daily allowances and other travel costs should represent compensation for those costs incurred while performing an assigned task, not for performing duties established by law - is one of the criticisms from the Audit Office of BiH directed at the HJPC, Patria reports.

Right to Leave

The HJPC was established in early June 2004, with the task of ensuring an independent and professional judiciary in BiH, appointing judges and prosecutors, and monitoring their work. The HJPC is financed from the budget and international donations.

The Council of Ministers of BiH adopted a decision in 2010 increasing the benefits for HJPC members. Thus, the president receives a monthly lump sum of 1,300 KM, while vice-presidents and one full-time member are paid 1,000 KM each. Other Council members receive between 200 and 250 KM per day.

Novković, who was the president of the HJPC, was simultaneously the president of the District Court in Banja Luka. He was paid about 320,000 marks in salary from June 2008 to July last year. Novković stated that he did not come to work at the District Court in Banja Luka while performing the function of HJPC president during his eight-year mandate.

He was paid 164,500 marks for his work in the HJPC. After his mandate expired, he returned to the position of president of the District Court in Banja Luka.

According to the current law, there is a right to leave from an official position in order to perform duties in the HJPC.

Unlike Novković, Obren Bužanin is not engaged full-time in the HJPC, but he is at the top of the earnings list. In the last eight years, he has received about 590,000 marks from the HJPC and the Supreme Court of Republika Srpska.

Bužanin became a member of the HJPC in 2007, and to date, this institution has paid him about 148,000 marks. He does not receive a monthly lump sum, but from the HJPC, among other things, he earns by attending sessions and being a member of four out of a total of seven standing commissions.

He simultaneously holds the position of judge and president of the Criminal Division at the Supreme Court of RS. Based on earnings for that position, over the eight years he has been a member of the HJPC, he has been paid about 442,000 marks.

Amount of Daily Allowances

In addition to lump sums, HJPC members, a total of 39 so far who have received compensation, have received nearly 300,000 marks in daily allowances. At the top of the list are Novković and Kadrić.

State auditors have repeatedly criticized the HJPC regarding daily allowances and travel expenses, finding that in 2012 they were paying daily allowances of 50 marks even though the Council of Ministers had earlier decided that this amount should be half that. At the end of 2012, they began applying the Council of Ministers' decision regulating the amount of daily allowances.

Kadrić has been a member of the HJPC for the last six years and has been paid 132,238 marks based on monthly lump sums, daily allowances, and fees. When the salary he simultaneously receives from the Appellate Court of Brčko District is added to this amount, from March 2009, when he was appointed to the HJPC, until today, he has received a total of 360,000 marks.

At the HJPC, Kadrić is engaged full-time. At the Judicial Commission of Brčko District, they said he has the right to leave from his position as a judge of the Appellate Court of Brčko District. His mandate in the HJPC expires in two years, after which he should continue his work as a judge in Brčko.