Magistrates’ salaries, Law Commission approves changes

The Law Commission approved, article by article, the legal changes to increase magistrates’ salaries, with eight votes in favor from the Socialists and three against from the Democrats.

The draft is expected to be reviewed and voted on Thursday in a plenary session.

The debate over salaries escalated after Parliament failed to approve the new formula by July 31, which was supposed to comply with the Constitutional Court’s decision.

After the deadline expired, the High Judicial Council and the High Prosecutorial Council decided that, starting on August 1, the reference salary would be calculated on the basis of 222,425 lek, with an additional compensation of 14,000 lek for qualifications.

At the request of the Democratic Party and with the majority’s approval, representatives of justice institutions were invited to the meeting. They expressed opposition to the formula proposed by the government.

Mirela Bogdani, chairwoman of the High Prosecutorial Council, opposed the majority’s version. Ilir Panda, deputy chairman of the Supreme Court, took the same position.

Gerd Hoxha, head of the Judges’ Association, took the most critical stance while reporting to lawmakers. According to him, the Constitutional Court’s decision cannot be subject to negotiation.

The opposition also called for the changes to be rejected, accusing the government of failing to properly establish the salary hierarchy within the justice system.

Democratic lawmaker Oerd Bylykbashi described the situation as a constitutional crisis caused by the executive and the government. He said the opposition had warned of this problem 10 years ago, adding that the government was unable to establish a salary hierarchy and that the law should be rejected.

Justice Minister Toni Gogu, who attended the committee meeting, criticized Parliament for failing to approve the new formula on time. However, he said the version presented by the majority resolved the situation.

Gogu acknowledged that Parliament had not respected the July 31 deadline, emphasizing that this required no justification. According to him, Parliament’s delay would not lead to a clash between the branches of government.