England: High Court judges to receive extra £60,000 if proposals are accepted

The Senior Salaries Review Body has suggested that senior judges in England and Wales receive pay rises of up to 32 per cent.

The move is an attempt to increase the morale of the judiciary and to compensate them for changes to their pension scheme.

Under the recommendations, Crown Court judges would be given a 22 per cent rise, taking their salaries to £165,000 while district judges would see an increase of eight per cent.

The UK government has said it is considering the recommendations and that it values the work of what it described as the UK’s world-renowned judiciary.

At present, High Court judges earn £181,566, but this has not been enough to stem the refusenik trend highlighted by Lord Neuberger during his tenure as the head of the Supreme Court.

The number of senior lawyers applying to join the bench has halved in the past decade, with a report linking the issue to pay, workloads and pension changes.

Scottish Legal News reported in August last year that top quality candidates were spurning elevation to the Scottish bench as a result of similar misgivings.