Magistrates’ Salaries Remain Unpaid as Associations Call for Finance Ministry Intervention

The Union of Judges, the National Association of Judges and the Association of Prosecutors have raised concerns over delays in payments to magistrates, officials of the justice institutions, as well as employees of the court and prosecution administrations.

In a joint statement published on 2 September, the organizations explained that the issue emerged following the implementation of Constitutional Court Decision No. 15, dated 17 February 2026. The decision also establishes the formula to be used for calculating magistrates’ salaries.

According to the associations, as of 1 August 2026, following the expiry of the deadline set by the Constitutional Court, salaries should have been calculated based on the formula it established. The application of this formula extends retroactively to the period from 1 April 2023 to 31 July 2026.

Following the constitutional decision, the High Council of Justice approved, through Decision No. 435, dated 26 August 2026, the basic reference salary for magistrates, while the High Prosecutorial Council did so through Decision No. 144, dated 28 August 2026. Both decisions provide for the application of the new salary from 1 August 2026 onward.

Although the salaries have been calculated and the relevant institutions have ordered the payments to be made, according to the statement, the obstacle has emerged at the financial execution stage.

“Although magistrates’ salaries have been calculated and ordered for payment in implementation of the relevant decisions, they are not being paid,” the statement says. According to the three organizations, this situation is related to actions and inactions by the structures responsible within the Treasury Directorate.

Data collected by the associations show that magistrates’ payments have been made in only two prosecution offices in the country. In the rest of the justice system, the salaries have not been paid.

The organizations say that the payments made in two prosecution offices demonstrate that the financial implementation of the decisions is possible. For this reason, they describe the failure to make payments in the rest of the system as “unjustifiable.”

The Union of Judges, the National Association of Judges and the Association of Prosecutors consider it unacceptable that a Constitutional Court decision, which is final, binding and directly enforceable, should fail to produce its effects in practice.

“Any delay or obstruction in the execution of payments approved and ordered according to the formula established by the Constitutional Court does not constitute merely a technical or procedural issue of budget administration,” the associations emphasize.

According to them, this issue affects not only the financial security of magistrates. It also jeopardizes the proper functioning of the justice system and respect for the decisions of the Constitutional Court.

The concern also extends to the court and prosecution administrations. The associations say that the blocking of payrolls is also leaving employees of these administrations without payment within the relevant deadlines, even though they are not subjects of the Constitutional Court’s decision-making on magistrates’ salaries.

The three organizations have asked the Treasury Directorate to fulfill its obligations and not obstruct payments ordered by the justice institutions.

They have also called on the Ministry of Finance to take immediate measures to guarantee the execution of the salaries. In particular, the Minister of Finance is asked to ensure that the administrative structures under the ministry’s authority act in accordance with the binding decisions of the Constitutional Court.

The Union of Judges, the National Association of Judges and the Association of Prosecutors warn that, in the absence of a swift solution, they will use every legal means available. This also includes seeking legal accountability from the persons and structures that may have obstructed or failed to make the payments.

The associations describe “any further delay in the execution of salaries” as “absolutely unacceptable” for the normal functioning of the justice system and consider it a violation of the implementation of the binding decision of the Constitutional Court.