The Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Pila Niningi has announced that retirement benefits and pension scheme for Judges of the National and Supreme Courts will be improved significantly to give judges a descent retirement after life on the bench. The Minister made this known by stating that the current pension scheme under the Judges Pension Act 1997 is inadequate and they will be working to amend the Income Tax Act to have the judges exempted from paying personal tax on their pension. Apart from this, he said that they are also considering some other fringe benefits as well for judges on retirement. “Currently, only Members of Parliament are exempted from paying tax on their pension upon retirement, I would like to see the same for the judges as well. This is one of the new initiatives undertaken by the Marape/Rosso Government to modernize the judiciary and our court system to meet the challenges of the 21st century.” According to Niningi, this will further compliment the newly approved three-tier court system announced recently and he would like to see all these changes taking place within this term of Parliament. Amongst the imperatives to improve capacity and performance, the government has recently approved to increase the ceiling of judges from 40 to 60. Annual budgetary appropriations to the judiciary have also increased in recent years. “The government believes that maintenance of the rule of law by a vibrant and independent judiciary is vital for growth and development. A strong and robust judicial system provides a good platform for investment and gives investor confidence.” “Some of our judges are now nearing their compulsory retirement age. Many of them have spent most of their active working life on the bench for over 30 years or more.” He went on to add that a judicial appointment to the bench is a lifetime calling in many respects and it is for this reason that judges must be adequately and sufficiently remunerated, both during their time in office and also at retirement.