Polish parliament considers bill creating new junior court assistant positions and restructuring salary scales for all court assistants.
New Junior Court Assistant Position Proposed
Poland’s Sejm is considering a bill that would establish a new position of junior court assistant as an additional entry-level position within the court assistant hierarchy. Under the proposal, presidents of courts could employ law students who have completed their third year of studies and passed all exams for the first three years.
The drafters believe this regulation would enable the utilization of law students’ intellectual potential for the benefit of the justice system and allow them to be employed in substantive positions within courts.
Proposed Changes to Salary Structure
The bill also proposes changes to how court assistant salaries are determined. The drafters want the legislator to obligate the Minister of Justice to set separate salary rates for junior court assistants, court assistants, and senior court assistants through a regulation.
Statutory guidelines are also to be introduced that the Ministry of Justice should follow when issuing the regulation, including the qualifications and professional experience required for each assistant position.
This solution aims to provide court assistants with a realistic financial career advancement perspective, according to the bill’s justification.
Proposed Salary Ranges
Under the new regulation, the drafters propose the following monthly salary ranges (in Polish złoty): junior court assistant from 5,500 zł to 6,500 zł; court assistant from 6,500 zł to 8,000 zł; senior court assistant from 8,000 zł to 9,000 zł.
This would raise both the minimum and maximum rates for all positions.
Controversial Amendments by KO Party Member
During Justice and Human Rights Committee work, KO party member Aleksander Kot proposed amendments to the bill. He suggested reducing the required work experience period to become a court assistant from 10 years to 7 years.
Kot’s amendment would also eliminate the requirement of receiving positive periodic evaluations as a condition for promotion, arguing that these evaluations are not particularly relevant in this context. He explained that being a senior court assistant does not formally entail a wider scope of tasks, greater responsibility, or greater autonomy, but is simply about recognizing someone’s long years of service to the justice system.
Kot also proposed expanding the list of individuals who could become senior court assistants to include those who have passed judge, prosecutor, advocate, barrister, or notary exams, have been entered on the list of advocates or barristers, or have been appointed as notaries by the Minister of Justice.
Union Representative’s Reaction
Urszula Łobodzińska, vice-chairwoman of the Presidium of the National Board of the “Ad Rem” Court Workers’ Trade Union, reacted to Kot’s proposal.
While supporting the solution to allow individuals with passed advocate, barrister, or notary exams, as well as those with doctorates, to be promoted to senior court assistants faster, Łobodzińska stated that such individuals should still be required to complete an appropriate period of work in the court position. The union had proposed four years.
She argued that while such individuals have very high substantive qualifications, nothing can replace the time worked in the court. She expressed concerns about people with professional qualifications becoming senior court assistants and earning more than those who would be training them, despite having lower job titles and salaries.
The committee ultimately supported the amendments proposed by KO party member Aleksander Kot.
