Judges’ and prosecutors’ salaries, justice minister: Dispute to be resolved in Parliament through legislation! Legal vacuum behind the situation

Justice Minister Toni Gogu said the deadlock over the salaries of judges and prosecutors is expected to be resolved with the start of the new parliamentary session.

According to him, the problem is linked to the lack of a legal basis for the formula used to calculate magistrates’ salaries, following its annulment by the Constitutional Court. Gogu stressed that the Constitutional Court’s ruling on magistrates’ salaries cannot be negotiated or relativized.

“The decisions of the Constitutional Court are enforceable, they are mandatory, they cannot be negotiated or relativized. The Constitutional Court’s decision on magistrates’ salaries is mandatory for every institution to implement,” he said.

According to the minister, it is precisely the lack of a legal basis that has created the current situation, leaving the Finance Ministry unable to proceed with payments under the new formula. Gogu said the solution is expected to come with the start of the new parliamentary session, which begins on Tuesday.

“At the start of the new parliamentary session, which begins on Tuesday, the legal vacuum will be filled, and it is my duty to ensure this is done quickly and as well as possible,” he said, adding that the aim is for the solution to comply both with the Constitutional Court’s decision and with the responsibility of managing the state budget.

Asked about differing positions among judges and heads of justice institutions regarding how to implement the Constitutional Court’s decision, the minister said that if the Constitutional Court had itself set out the legal formula, the Finance Ministry would have implemented it.

According to Gogu, the Constitution stipulates that the issue of salaries must be regulated through legislation, and this is expected to happen when the parliamentary session begins.

It is worth recalling that the conflict between magistrates and the central government began after the Albanian Parliament ignored a Constitutional Court decision requiring the new salary formula to be implemented by July 31. After that date passed, the High Judicial Council and the High Prosecutorial Council said they were obliged to implement the Constitutional Court’s decision themselves and set the reference salary.

Justice Minister Toni Gogu: Public money belongs to citizens, not to the government. Every cent of the state budget must have legal authorization to be spent. This is the most important principle for everyone; it applies equally to all. We will defend this accountability, which citizens expect from us, without any hesitation.

The decisions of the Constitutional Court are enforceable, they are mandatory, they cannot be negotiated or relativized. The Constitutional Court’s decision on magistrates’ salaries is mandatory for every institution to implement.

Implementing the Constitutional Court’s decision and the responsibility of enforcing the budget require clear legal authorization. This is where the problem has arisen. The legal vacuum is the cause of the entire situation we find ourselves in today.

We have not reached this point because someone demanded more and someone else demanded less. We have reached this point because we lack a legal basis for the magistrates’ salary formula, which the Constitutional Court annulled. In the absence of legal authorization, the Finance Ministry is unable to implement the Constitutional Court’s decision.

At the start of the new parliamentary session, which begins on Tuesday, the legal vacuum will be filled, and it is my duty to ensure this is done quickly and as well as possible. This must be done both in implementing the Constitutional Court’s decision and in fully complying with the state budget. Therefore, the solution is not for institutions to clash with one another; the solution lies in the Albanian Parliament in the coming days. This will be our direction and my duty in my role as justice minister to resolve this dispute over the situation…

As for the opinions held by judges and presidents, they have differing views on how the Constitutional Court’s decision should be implemented. What I can say is that if the Constitutional Court’s decision, after setting the legal deadline, had established the legal formula, I am convinced that the finance minister would have implemented it as well.

But the Constitutional Court has set the legal decision as required by the Constitution: through legislation in Parliament. Salaries need legal authorization and a legal formula, and this is what will happen when the parliamentary session begins, where both sides—the Constitutional Court’s decision and responsibility toward the state budget—will come together and be implemented. The dispute will be resolved in Parliament through legislation.