The Constitutional Court decided on the increase, the Treasury blocks payments, judges and prosecutors clash with the government

The three organizations representing Albania's judges and prosecutors raised concerns through a joint statement on Wednesday about the government's blocking of the salaries of magistrates and the administration of courts and prosecutors, after an early conflict over a new formula for calculating them.

According to the Union of Judges, the National Association of Judges and the Association of Prosecutors, the non-execution of salaries followed the decisions of the High Judicial Council and the High Prosecutorial Council, which decided to calculate salaries for September in accordance with the decision taken on February 17 by the Constitutional Court.

After finding that the Assembly refused to implement the decisions of the Constitutional Court, both Councils assessed that the decision was binding and determined the increase with a reference basic salary of 222 thousand lek and 14 thousand lek for the qualification supplement.

The statement details all the steps taken to calculate salaries from August 1 and compensation for the period April 2023 - July 2026, up to the actions taken by the units responsible for the budget, which are tasked with starting the payment of salaries according to the new definitions.

"However, today, on 02.09.2026, in an unprecedented manner, this process has been hindered in the financial execution phase. As a result of the actions and inactions of the responsible structures of the Treasury Directorate, the salaries of magistrates, although they have been calculated and ordered for payment in accordance with the relevant decisions, are not being executed ," the joint statement of the associations states.

The consequences of this situation are not limited to magistrates, but also extend directly to the financial and administrative functioning of the justice system institutions.

From the data provided by the magistrates' associations, it has resulted that salaries have been executed according to the new calculation only for the offices of the two prosecutors' offices, while for the rest of the system, their execution has not been carried out.

" The associations of magistrates consider it unacceptable that a decision of the Constitutional Court, final, binding and directly applicable, and for the implementation of which the responsible institutions have undertaken the necessary administrative actions, remains without practical effect and that magistrates and other officials of the justice system remain without salaries due to obstacles created in the financial execution chain, " the statement says.

According to them, delays or obstruction of the execution of approved and ordered payments, according to the formula determined by the Constitutional Court, does not constitute simply a technical or procedural issue of budget administration.

“This is a situation that directly affects the normal functioning of the justice system, the financial security of magistrates and the effectiveness of a decision 1 of the Constitutional Court. Consequently, it affects respect for the foundations of the constitutional order and the principle of the rule of law, as well as producing direct financial and institutional consequences, ” the associations of judges and prosecutors further note.

The situation created is considered an extremely worrying precedent for the manner in which decisions of the Constitutional Court are respected and implemented in a state governed by the rule of law.

The magistrates' associations call on the responsible administrative structures of the Treasury Directorate to fulfill their obligations and not to impede the execution of payments ordered by the institutions of the justice system, in implementation of the decision of the Constitutional Court, no. 15, dated February 17, 2026.

The Ministry of Finance is also called upon to take the necessary measures to guarantee the immediate execution of the salaries of magistrates and justice system officials.

" The freezing of salaries of judicial administration and prosecution employees directly violates the normal functioning of justice institutions. For this reason, the immediate intervention of the Minister of Finance is required to guarantee the continuity of payments, unblock the created situation and take the necessary measures to prevent such cases from recurring, " the statement further adds.

The associations indicate that, in the absence of an immediate solution, all available legal means will be used, including seeking legal responsibility for the persons and structures responsible for preventing or failing to make payments.

Asked by BIRN, the Ministry of Finance did not comment until the publication of this article. Reporter.al