Reprint as at 17 December 2015
(LI 2015/6)
Judicial Salaries and Allowances Determination 2015: revoked, on 17 December 2015 (with effect on 1 October 2015, after expiring on 30 September 2015), by clause 8 of the Judicial Salaries and Allowances Determination (No 2) 2015 (LI 2015/322).
Changes authorised by subpart 2 of Part 2 of the Legislation Act 2012 have been made in this official reprint.
Note 4 at the end of this reprint provides a list of the amendments incorporated.
Pursuant to sections 12B(1) and 19 of the Remuneration Authority Act 1977 and,—
in relation to the Chief Justice and the other Judges of the Supreme Court, the President of the Court of Appeal and the other Judges of the Court of Appeal, and the Chief High Court Judge and the other Judges of the High Court, to section 9A(1)(a) and (b) of the Judicature Act 1908:
in relation to the Chief District Court Judge, the Principal Family Court Judge, the Principal Youth Court Judge, the Principal Environment Judge, and the other District Court Judges, to section 6(1)(a) and (b) of the District Courts Act 1947:
in relation to the Chief Judge of the Employment Court and the other Judges of the Employment Court, to section 206(1)(a) and (b) of the Employment Relations Act 2000:
in relation to the Chief Judge of the Maori Land Court, the Deputy Chief Judge of the Maori Land Court, and the other Judges of the Maori Land Court, to section 13(1)(a) and (b) of Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993:
in relation to the Associate Judges of the High Court, to section 26F(1)(a) and (b) of the Judicature Act 1908:
in relation to the chief coroner, to section 110(1)(b) of the Coroners Act 2006,—
the Remuneration Authority makes the following determination (to which is appended an explanatory memorandum).
This determination is the Judicial Salaries and Allowances Determination 2015.
This determination is deemed to have come into force on 1 October 2014.
This determination expires on 30 September 2015.
The salaries payable to the judicial officers specified in the Schedule must be paid at the respective rates set out in that schedule.
Principal allowances for general expenses must be paid to the judicial officers specified in the Schedule at the respective rates set out in that schedule.
(1)
This clause applies if the Chief High Court Judge—
has his or her primary place of residence in Auckland; and
owns or rents on a continuous basis residential accommodation in Wellington (the secondary residential accommodation); and
uses the secondary residential accommodation in lieu of overnight accommodation.
(2)
If this clause applies, the Chief High Court Judge must be paid, as a principal allowance for the secondary residential accommodation, the amount of the actual and reasonable expenses incurred by him or her in relation to that accommodation.
(3)
The maximum yearly rate of the principal allowance payable on and after 1 October 2014 is $20,000.
If a District Court Judge holds the office of chief coroner, he or she must be paid a principal allowance at the rate of $10,000 per annum, in addition to the salary and principal allowance set out in the Schedule.
The Judicial Salaries and Allowances Determination 2013 (SR 2013/498) is revoked.
cls 4, 5
Dated at Wellington this 21st day of January 2015.
John Errington,Chairman.
A Foulkes,Member.
This memorandum is not part of the determination, but is intended to indicate its general effect.
This determination, which is deemed to have come into force on 1 October 2014 and expires on 30 September 2015, sets the salaries and principal allowances for the Judges of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court and District Court benches (including the salary and allowance of a District Court Judge who currently holds the judicial office of chief coroner), the Employment Court, and the Maori Land Court.
The Remuneration Authority (the Authority) is required to have regard to the following when setting judicial remuneration and allowances:
the need to achieve and maintain fair relativity with the levels of remuneration received elsewhere; and
the need to be fair both—
to the persons or group of persons whose remuneration is being determined; and
to the taxpayer; and
the need to recruit and retain competent persons.
In addition, the Authority must take into account—
the requirements of the position concerned; and
the conditions of service enjoyed by the persons whose remuneration is being determined and those enjoyed by the persons or members of the group of persons whose remuneration and conditions of employment are, in the opinion of the Authority, comparable with those of the persons or members of the group of persons whose remuneration is being determined.
The Authority must also take into account any prevailing adverse economic conditions, based on evidence from an authoritative source, and may determine the remuneration at a rate lower than it would otherwise have determined.
In setting the remuneration for the judiciary for the year from 1 October 2014, the information that the Authority considered included—
submissions made by the Chief Justice, Appeal Court Judges, High Court Judges, Employment Court Judges, and District Court Judges; and
remuneration data made available to it in respect of private sector legal remuneration of groups with comparable skills and experience and from which groups it can be expected that Judges of the High Court could be recruited; and
remuneration data made available to it in respect of private sector legal remuneration of groups with comparable skills and experience and from which groups it can be expected that District Court Judges could be recruited; and
growth in the New Zealand Consumers Price Index and Labour Cost Index over the previous year; and
information on the recruitment of Judges from a range of sources, including the Attorney-General, the Chief Justice, and Heads of Benches; and
remuneration data for senior positions in the public sector; and
conditions of employment enjoyed by members of the judiciary; and
prevailing economic conditions.
Against that background, the Authority has made an increase of approximately 3.5% in salaries for Judges of the Supreme, Appeal, and High Courts, and an increase of approximately 4.0% for Judges of the District, Employment, and Maori Land Courts, and for Associate Judges of the High Court. The slightly different rates reflect the different movements in remuneration in the pools from which the different groups of Judges are recruited. The salary of the Chief District Court Judge has been adjusted by the same percentage as the salaries of the Judges of the higher courts, reflecting the practice of recent years that the salary of that position is set at the same rate as that of a High Court Judge.
The salary increases for the Judges in this determination are broadly in line with the adjustments made by the Authority in 2014 in respect of other groups and senior positions in the public sector for which it sets remuneration.
No change has been made to the yearly principal allowance for general expenses. With the assistance of the judiciary, the Authority will embark on a review of this allowance in early 2015.
Issued under the authority of the Legislation Act 2012.
Date of notification in Gazette: 29 January 2015.
This is a reprint of the Judicial Salaries and Allowances Determination 2015 that incorporates all the amendments to that determination as at the date of the last amendment to it.
Reprints are presumed to correctly state, as at the date of the reprint, the law enacted by the principal enactment and by any amendments to that enactment. Section 18 of the Legislation Act 2012 provides that this reprint, published in electronic form, has the status of an official version under section 17 of that Act. A printed version of the reprint produced directly from this official electronic version also has official status.
Editorial and format changes to reprints are made using the powers under sections 24 to 26 of the Legislation Act 2012. See also http://www.pco.parliament.govt.nz/editorial-conventions/.
Judicial Salaries and Allowances Determination (No 2) 2015 (LI 2015/322): clause 8
Judicial Salaries and Allowances Determination 2015 (LI 2015/6): clause 3