PS bill on raising magistrates’ salaries, Judge Gerd Hoxha: we encountered arrogance in communications with the Ministry of Finance!

Gerd Hoxha, deputy chair of the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction and chairman of the Union of Judges, said that in communications with the Ministry of Finance over the withholding of judges’ and judicial administration staff salaries, they had encountered “arrogance.”

Speaking at the Law Commission about the Socialist Party’s bill to increase magistrates’ salaries, Hoxha said that justice institutions were ready to negotiate how the outstanding obligations would be paid, but not the decision of the Constitutional Court.

He stressed that the new salary formula entered into force on August 1, 2026, and that if changes to it were being considered, this should be the basis for discussion.

The chairman of the Tirana Court said that judges were ready to negotiate how the outstanding payments would be made, although, according to him, they were immediately entitled to them under the Constitutional Court’s decision.

“We care about the state budget. We are ready to negotiate the payment of the arrears. We should not receive them immediately, even though we are entitled to them immediately under the decision of the Constitutional Court, but extend the payment over two or three years,” he declared.

Hoxha also said that negotiations could be held over the individual lawsuits filed by judges and prosecutors, which, according to him, create a considerable cost for the state budget.

According to him, a significant portion of the cost of the back pay is linked to other institutions whose salaries are indexed to those of judges.

“We are ready to negotiate the individual lawsuits filed by judges and prosecutors in the courts, which also have a cost that almost burdens the state budget by 17%. The cost of the back pay is not our cost, ladies and gentlemen. We account for 50% of this amount; the costs of the other institutions that refer to judges’ salaries account for the rest. These have increased it by 50%,” Hoxha said.