The government moves to stop corruption in the judiciary after reports that auxiliary magistrates often draw large pensions after holding posts for only a few weeks, Caracol Radio reported Wednesday.
Interior and Justice Minister German Vargas Lleras said a 30-year-old decree had allowed the short periods of employment of auxiliary magistrates in the Superior Council of the Judiciary.
Caracol Radio reported that last year 20 magistrates were appointed for periods of between one and three months with an average income of $8,900.
The minister said that it would be impossible to ensure that these magistrates give back their pensions, but that in the future steps must be taken to stop such short-lived appointments.
Vargas Lleras added that it would be necessary to “look case by case, but the abolishing of the decree does not have a retroactive effect.”