Magistrates’ salaries remain blocked / Justice associations: Ministry of Finance is seeking implementation of a repealed formula

The Union of Judges, the National Association of Judges and the Association of Prosecutors have jointly reacted to the failure to pay the salaries of magistrates, justice system officials, and judicial and prosecutorial administration employees.

The associations consider the situation an unprecedented blockage and accuse the executive institutions of violating their legal obligations, as well as failing to implement final decisions.

According to them, the positions of government institutions contain a clear contradiction. The Ministry of Finance has asked the High Council of the Judiciary and the High Council of the Prosecution to forward to the Treasury payment orders calculated according to the previous formula. At the same time, the Minister of Justice has publicly stated that this formula has been repealed and that intervention by Parliament is needed to fill this “gap.”

Representatives of judges and prosecutors want to know the legal basis for implementing a formula that the executive itself acknowledges is no longer in force.

The Constitutional Court had set July 31, 2026, as the deadline for Parliament to approve the legal amendments, and not merely to submit the relevant initiatives. With the expiration of this deadline and Parliament’s failure to act, the mechanism provided for by the Court in decision no. 15/2026 was activated, and was subsequently formalized through acts of the High Council of the Judiciary and the High Council of the Prosecution.

The associations clarify that the councils did not assume Parliament’s powers to determine salary policy. According to them, the High Council of the Judiciary and the High Council of the Prosecution merely implemented the consequences of the Constitutional Court’s decision after the deadline set for the legislature had passed.

They emphasize that the decisions of the High Council of the Judiciary and the High Council of the Prosecution remain in force as long as they have not been challenged through judicial proceedings. For this reason, the responsible institutions must respect and execute them.

The associations underline that Parliament’s failure to act cannot be used to suspend the implementation of a Constitutional Court decision. Likewise, the new legislative initiative submitted by two MPs must be carefully examined, both because it was submitted after the expiration of the July 31, 2026 deadline and because of its content.

According to the statement, this initiative cannot serve as a reason for blocking salaries. The effects of the repeal entered into force, in any event, no later than 31.07.2026, while the Constitutional Court also determined the calculation method to be applied if Parliament failed to act.

The Union of Judges, the National Association of Judges and the Association of Prosecutors declare that waiting for the approval of a new law would give Parliament the opportunity to postpone, through inaction, a deadline set by the Constitutional Court. Such a situation, they say, would constitute a de facto veto over the effects of the constitutional decision and would call the authority of the Constitution into question.

The joint statement calls for the immediate payment of magistrates’ salaries, without linking it to the approval of a new law.

It also calls on the Ministry of Finance to explain the legal basis on which it is seeking to use a formula that is now considered repealed.

The associations are also calling for the implementation of decision no. 15/2026 of the Constitutional Court and the mechanism it established for the period after July 31, 2026.

Another demand concerns the execution of the decisions of the High Council of the Judiciary and the High Council of the Prosecution, which remain acts in force.

In conclusion, they call for any future legal amendment by Parliament to result, under no circumstances and unequivocally, in an outcome less favorable than the standard established by the Constitutional Court.

Tirana, September 5, 2026