The strike, which was called by the SOJ union, is to press to better pay and retirement conditions.

"Court officials cannot accept that, once the working day has completed, they must continue to work into the night, as the country so often sees on television [with high-profile cases] without being remunerated or compensated for their work, to the clear detriment of their personal, family and even professional lives, given that the work overload fosters errors," the union said in a statement.

The SOJ warned that it will fight "against contemporary forms of slavery", which is, it it argues, "what this is about."

"A job for which people do not offer spontaneously to work [overtime],but are coerced into doing so, under the threat of disciplinary and criminal proceedings, cannot be considered as a job, but rather as a sentence for some offence committed," it said.

In the union's view, court officials "are not remunerated, nor compensated for guaranteeing rights, freedoms and guarantees to other citizens" and so must be compensated through more favourable retirement terms.