The otherwise rather steady and tranquil Slovenian political quotidian has lately been perturbed by a judicial unrest. The justices in black robes decided to call a strike, properly so called. The judicial chambers will close down, the files will be kept shut and all the plaintiffs and defendants will have to stay home. Reason: the wages are too low. The judges want to be on a level playing field with the MPs. The Constitutional Court ruled so and so be it, or paret mundus.

In reality, the situation is indeed worth of a grave concern. Behind these rather tiny skirmishes about money there is a real and very dark world of Slovenian justice that has long been entangled in a vicious circle, without anyone, or so it seems, having noticed that. What is it that I have in mind?

1st: the courts and the carriers of a judicial function have lost all reputation and trust in the eyes of the ordinary people in the last 15 years. We are drowning in judicial delays, case-load keeps piling up and ordinary people have felt that on their skin. If one has to wait 5, 10 or even more years for a justice to be done, anything else is hardly to expect.

2nd: the judges are badly if not even miserably payed. This has led to a brain drain and the best minds fled into private practice. Those who have stayed work in a hostile environment - disrespected by the people - with loads of fat cases.

3rd: government wants to see more work done. It is willing to pay more for it, but only those judges who would contribute more. However, solidarity among judges works against this. They ALL want a better pay and oppose additional payment as a motivation for more work. Market rationale has no domicile in courts, they claim. Hence, we have a clash between the government and the judges.

This means that all fronts are open: judges are unhappy with the working conditions, government is dissatisfied with their output and the citizens are upset with both of them. It is difficult to see where this vicious circle could be cut up. What is clear, a justice on strike is not a right way to proceed. It will make things only worse.