(AP) – President Viktor Yushchenko called Nov. 2 for judges’ salaries to be increased by nearly 50 percent as part of a bid to end bribe-taking.
“Only with honest and independent courts can people feel themselves protected,” Yushchenko said as he opened a judicial congress.
Yushchenko proposed a raise to 3,800 hryvna ($760; 633 euros) a month for judges, nearly five times the average national salary of about 800 hryvna ($160; -133).
Yushchenko admitted that Ukrainian courts still don’t operate transparently, and that the number of complaints against judges continues to soar. The European Court of Human Rights received some 9,000 appeals last year from Ukrainians, who complained that their rights were violated during court proceedings, Yushchenko said.
Since Yushchenko came to power in January, thousands of local officials, including judges and prosecutors, have been dismissed on suspicion of taking bribes. The president made court reform and the struggle with corruption priorities for his government.
“It is a key issue for Ukrainian society,” Yushchenko said at the meeting of about 500 judges.
