Nova Scotia's 35 provincial and family court judges are among the lowest paid in the country, and they trail the national average for judges' salaries by more than $26,000.

Those figures are contained in the report by the independent tribunal set up to recommend salaries for provincial and family court judges for the next three years.

The tribunal recommended salary increases totalling 9.5 per cent over the length of the agreement. Last week, the government rejected the recommendation and instead imposed a settlement that calls for no increases over the next two years and an increase of only one per cent in 2020.

The tribunals have been in existence since 1999. They were set up to provide impartial, arm's-length decisions on judges' salaries and benefits. Last spring, the government stripped the tribunal of its power to impose binding settlements. Instead, it can now only make recommendations.

Government says it couldn't afford 9.5%

"The current Tribunal has no desire or need to comment on these new amendments," the three members wrote in their final report.

The panel was chaired by Dalhousie law professor Bruce Archibald and included lawyers Brian Johnston, representing the province, and Ronald Pink, representing the provincial judges' association. The same three panelists made up the tribunal the last time it reviewed salaries.

Both sides presented briefs and made oral arguments. The public was also invited to make submissions but only one person chose to do so.

In announcing its decision last week, the government said it could not afford the increases proposed by the tribunal.

Ahead of only N.L.

The government also argued that judges were already well-compensated.

"The Government asserted in this context that current Provincial Court judges' salaries put our judges in the top 1% of earners in the Province," the tribunal wrote in its report.

"But quite frankly, many members of the pool of qualified candidates find themselves in that elite company as well."

At $236,151 in annual salary, Nova Scotia judges trail every province in the country except those in Newfoundland and Labrador. They trail federally appointed judges, such as those who serve on Nova Scotia's Supreme Court, by $80,000. The judges' association argued this gap between federal and provincially appointed judges is the largest it's ever been.

Similar to public sector

In New Brunswick, by comparison, provincial court judges make $246,880. That province's tribunal has yet to make recommendations for the next couple of years.

While agreeing with the judges' association that judges should not be compared to civil servants, the Liberals are imposing the same wage settlement (0%, 0% and 1%) it threatened to impose in a legislated contract with public sector unions.

"Firstly," the tribunal wrote, "the Supreme Court of Canada and Courts of Appeal across this country have indicated that civil servant salaries, for the most part, are not appropriate comparators in the exercise of setting judicial salaries."

The tribunal explained its rationale for the 9.5% recommended increase:

"The base rate in the first year has been arrived at by taking the current New Brunswick judges' salary rate and adding an amount equal to 0.9% which is the real GDP growth forecast for Nova Scotia for 2016," they wrote.

Sides differ on N.S. economy

The two sides took very different positions on the state of Nova Scotia's economy. The judges' cited economic forecasts from banks, which projected modest growth, to support their argument for a pay raise. The government countered by saying that the economy is more fragile than it seems and growth is not guaranteed.

The tribunal also noted the extra pressure provincial court judges face following a decision last summer by the Supreme Court of Canada. That court imposed new deadlines that courts must meet when dealing with cases. In provincial courts, the deadline is 18 months.

"Nova Scotia Provincial Court judges have a critical role in relation to this difficult problem, particularly since, as the Government states, case processing times in Provincial Court matters have been going up."

The tribunal said provincial court judges have been at the forefront of dealing with new challenges in the justice system and cites the creation of specialized courts to deal with mental health, domestic violence and drugs.