This deserves a court clerk | Work

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Jan 31, 2023 at 9:37 PM

How much you can earn in your profession in the Netherlands largely depends on your sector or industry. But how high are the wages for different professions exactly? This week we take a closer look at the salary of court clerks.

What exactly does a clerk do?

In addition to the well-known task of writing down what the parties say at a court hearing, a court clerk must also thoroughly prepare cases. A clerk reviews and records all documents for the court case and discusses with the judge(s) what still needs to be sorted out and what is missing from the file.

In criminal cases, the clerk assists the examining magistrate in drawing up official reports of searches, statements by suspects and hearings of witnesses. In a three-judge chamber, the clerk participates in the mutual discussion about the judgment to be passed.

How do you become a clerk?

Both a higher vocational education and a university education in Dutch Law give access to this profession. Dutch Law students can already work as an ‘external clerk’ to gain experience.

At the court where you are hired and at the official training institute SSR, you follow function-oriented training, aimed at research, writing judgments and the course of events during a trial. You can also study in two years through SSR to become a clerk if you already work at the clerk’s office (administration) of a court.

What do you earn if you are just starting out?

According to the National Professional Guide, the salary of a court clerk in the judiciary starts at 2,280 euros gross per month and averages 2,565 euros gross.

The judiciary falls under the collective labor agreement of the State. In vacancies on various job sites, salaries are mentioned for clerks with a minimum of approximately 3,000 euros gross per month in scale 10 and more than 3,500 euros in scale 11.

What is asked of you for that salary and what extras do you have?

The collective labor agreement assumes a 36-hour working week. The most striking extra reward is the Individual Choice Budget. This gives employees a budget of 16.4 percent of their gross salary to, for example, buy more free hours.

Moreover, the national government has made great leaps forward with working from home. This is quite possible for clerks for the days when there is no court hearing. If necessary, a budget is available for making the home more sustainable.

How high can the salary be?

The National Occupation Guide mentions a top salary for clerks of more than 5,900 euros gross per month. Vacancies for registrars mention a higher maximum: 6,050 euros as the maximum in scale 12 of the collective labor agreement for the State.

The Professional Guide also suggests opportunities for advancement to related professions such as legal adviser or head of legal affairs at a company, but mentions the same maximum salary of 5,900 euros per month.

How is the judiciary doing?

There are now 12,000 people working in the judiciary: 2,600 judges and 9,400 employees. The workload at courts is high, which not only leads to long waiting times, but also to the cancellation of court cases.

The role of the clerk in the formation of judgments was recently exceptionally mentioned in a judgment of the Central Netherlands District Court. It stated that a ruling was determined ‘in collaboration with the clerk of the court’.

The position of the clerk is not clear enough, says Nina Holvast, who obtained her PhD on the role of legal assistants and is now researching this at Erasmus University. “The (legal) position of the judge is surrounded by all kinds of guarantees to guarantee independence, impartiality and integrity, but the position of a legal assistant is not. While they regularly act as a substantive discussion partner for the judge.”

Many judges realize that legal assistants can play an important role in increasing the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of the judicial system. “They can relieve the judge of certain tasks and keep him or her sharp as a sparring partner.”

And so, Holvast believes, the position of clerk must be properly described. This could also lead to better pay.

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