The ANM admits to the error regarding magistrates’ arrears, but not entirely

They admit the error, but not entirely. “We would like to refute, as of now, the claim that magistrates will receive an average of 100,000 euros in their pay packets. Even if the coefficient were to rise from 6 per cent to 12 per cent, our calculations show we are a long way from that figure.” This is the account given by Giuseppe Tango, president of the National Magistrates’ Association (ANM), regarding the case concerning the pay rise and related back pay due to over 11,000 magistrates, following the rulings of the Council of State which altered the method for calculating pay adjustments. This is a case we have written about in Il Foglio, and it suggests, on the one hand, that either the ANM has deliberately lied about the entire affair, or that it is continuing to get its estimates completely wrong. Tango’s words confirm the error. The president adds that “our calculations were based on what was asked of us, namely on the judgement regarding compliance with a final and binding ruling and on the 2021 Prime Ministerial Decree, and not on the second Prime Ministerial Decree, for which there is a ruling that can still be appealed. We were surprised that, despite the immediately enforceable judgement, the government failed to settle its debt and forced us, against our will, to take enforcement action.” In any case, ''even taking into account the 12 per cent coefficient on the second Prime Ministerial Decree, we are a very long way from the average figure of 100,000 euros'', says the president of the National Magistrates’ Association. However, he still does not provide a precise estimate, limiting himself to a relative measure (''a very long way'') to quantify the amount the state will have to pay.

In reality, as we have reported in Il Foglio, in the case of magistrates with a seventh-level professional assessment and over 30 years’ service, the arrears amount to 30,000 euros net (64,000 euros gross), to which must be added 10,500 euros net per annum once the scheme is fully operational (22,000 euros gross) and 32,000 euros in costs borne by the public administration: in total, this amounts to a cost of 118,000 euros to the public purse (exceeding the conservative estimate of ‘up to 100,000 euros’ published by Il Sole 24 Ore). This does not take into account the effects on severance pay, which, in the case of magistrates, is calculated on the basis of salary. In short, the admission that a mistake had been made has finally come. But when it comes to the figures, the ANM continues to stall.