The National Association of Judges of the Republic of Albania has publicly reacted to the Prime Minister's recent stances, denouncing what it describes as political pressure on the Constitutional Court and repeated interventions by the Council of Ministers in the financial status of magistrates.
In its statement, the association says that the public campaign launched by the head of the executive does not aim to inform citizens, but to create a climate of lynching against judges at a time when a constitutional issue is in the decision-making phase.
According to the judges, this is not a random clash, but the culmination of a chain of interferences that began in 2016 and continues to this day.
How the clash with the government began
The association recalls that the initial draft law on the status of magistrates, drafted by local and international experts, provided for a higher salary level than that finally approved by the Assembly in November 2016. The accelerated approval and without public debate was considered the first deviation from the standards of justice reform.
The law then postponed the financial effects of the new salaries until January 1, 2019, leaving judges on their old salaries for more than two years. This was called another deliberate violation.
Discrimination among judges
On the eve of the law's entry into force, the Parliament changed the transitional provision: only magistrates who had passed the vetting process would benefit from the new salary. This change was sent to the Constitutional Court by judges' associations and was repealed as unconstitutional.
Change of salary reference
Prior to January 1, 2019, the Council of Ministers, through a sub-legal act, removed a reference category in the Prime Minister's Office administration that served as the basis for calculating the salary of magistrates. According to the association, this indirectly lowered their financial standard, in violation of the Constitution.
Although the Supreme State Audit Office identified this problem in 2020, the Assembly subsequently passed a law that, according to judges, legalized this reduction. This law was overturned by the Constitutional Court in 2022.
The last clash – the law of 2023
The association points out that the Council of Ministers intervened again in 2023 with a new salary formula, which, according to them, only maintains the nominal value, but lowers the real standard of the financial status of magistrates. For this reason, the associations turned to the Constitutional Court for the third time.
The statement also states that the Prime Minister has publicly warned that, even after the Constitutional Court's decision, the government may find "alternative solutions," which the judges interpret as a possible new intervention.
What do judges look for?
Shoqata mohon kategorikisht se po kërkon “rritje page për privilegje”. Sipas saj, thelbi i betejës është respektimi i nenit 138 të Kushtetutës, i cili ndalon uljen e pagave të gjyqtarëve dhe garanton pavarësinë e pushtetit gjyqësor.
Në fund, gjyqtarët argumentojnë se qëndrimi i tyre nuk është destabilizues, por një përpjekje për të mbrojtur shtetin e së drejtës dhe balancën mes pushteteve.
