On the eve of the deadline set by the Constitutional Court, and with Parliament already in recess, the majority has put forward a new formula for magistrates’ salaries. The SP proposal provides for an almost symbolic increase, reopening the debate between the obligation to implement the Constitutional Court’s ruling and the government’s course of keeping the financial bill under control.
The proposal was submitted at the end of the deadline
Two Socialist deputies, Aulona Bylykbashi and Admir Kadeli, submitted on July 30 the additions for correcting the law that regulates the salaries of judges and prosecutors. The move came at the limit of the deadline set by the Constitutional Court.
According to the majority, this step fulfills the obligation arising from the Constitutional Court’s ruling. However, the content of the amendment shows that the SP has chosen the smallest possible option, with an increase of only 0.02%.
Minimal increase and the majority’s justification
In essence, the formula changes the coefficient from 0.36 to 0.38. The Socialists argue that a higher increase would, in their view, create a deep gap with salaries at other levels of the state hierarchy.
In the accompanying explanatory report, it is claimed that a balance was sought between material guarantees for the independence of magistrates and proportionality across the entire public pay system. According to this reasoning, the lowest-ranking magistrate in district courts is equal in salary to the Speaker of Parliament and the Prime Minister, or reaches 0.91 of the President’s salary.
The debate over independence and the public bill
The SP defends the argument that this intervention is enough to correct the effects of the previous scheme, which left salaries in the justice system untouched while the administration benefited from more visible increases.
On the other hand, the issue has not been merely technical. Judges and prosecutors have linked salary levels to guarantees against political influence, while the government has long articulated the position that the justice system must justify through its work the high pay it seeks.
Also back payments from 2023
The financial effect of the change is not limited only to the current salary. The calculations also include back payments starting from 2023.
According to the explanatory report, this cost will be covered by the state budget spread over several budget years. This is precisely where the most sensitive point of the debate remains: how far the spirit of the Constitutional Court’s ruling is truly being implemented and how far what is being sought is only the formal closure of a legal obligation.
The Constitutional Court’s intervention came after the clash between the majority and the associations of judges and prosecutors, which demanded a new salary scheme. The SP’s latest proposal appears aimed at avoiding a bigger shock to the public pay scheme, but without ending the debate over whether the independence of the judiciary can be addressed with such a minimal correction.