The High Judicial Council, KLGJ, on Wednesday approved draft decisions for the appointment of 42 new magistrates, who completed the Magistrates' School in the 2024-2025 academic year.

Although their appointment as magistrate judges was carried out on July 31, their appointment to office was carried out approximately three months later, due to the failure of the High Court of Justice to carry out the parallel moves and promotions of current judges in a timely manner, which would have enabled the creation of vacancies in the First Instance Courts of General Jurisdiction.

The law “On the status of judges and prosecutors…” stipulates that the Councils must announce vacancies within June of each year and that within July each Council publishes its decisions on the appointment of appointees to vacant positions for magistrates. These legal provisions have not been respected by the Supreme Judicial Council repeatedly.

The Supreme Court justified that the appointment should have awaited the completion of the parallel transfer and promotion procedures of the current judges.

The vetting process removed more than half of the magistrates from the system. As a result, numerous vacancies were created in the courts that have remained unfilled for years, and the backlog of files that have been waiting to be reviewed for years has continued to grow.

According to data made available by the KLGj, the organizational structure for all courts provides for 417 judges. The current factual structure results in 308 appointed judges, of whom 265 are effectively in office. With the appointment of new magistrates, the number of judges effectively in office increases to 307, while the number of appointed judges increases to 350. There are still 67 vacant positions in the courts.