Today's donation ceremony gave us the opportunity to speak with the Attorney General on a number of urgent national issues. During that extended, 21-minute conversation, the topic came up that the judicial officers won't have to worry about the 10% cut in public wages and allowances, which the Briceno government implemented several weeks ago.
That's because, according to the AG, the judiciary enjoys the security of tenure. More importantly, parliament cannot violate the principle of separation of powers and impose its will on the judiciary.
Here's how the Attorney General explained it this evening:
Hon. Magali Marin- Young, Attorney General
"The judiciary is not subject to the salary cut. The judiciary enjoys what we called separation of powers which is one of the bedrock principles under our constitution. That means that the legislature cannot impose its will on the judiciary. Security of tenure not only guarantees a certain term, but it also includes the security in terms of their emoluments. So, we did not take any legislative measures to reduce the salary of members of the judiciary."
Reporter
"Are there any other bodies like them that could not be touched?"
Hon. Magali Marin- Young, Attorney General
"No, I think it was primarily the judiciary that was excluded."
