After the Constitutional Court (with Decision No. 15, dated 17.02.2026) found that the government had made a "hidden reduction" in the salaries of magistrates and set the Assembly a deadline of July 31, 2026 to correct the violation, Edi Rama's majority has filed a new legal draft.
Instead of a constitutional and transparent solution, the latest move has been conveyed through an individual MP proposal, a mechanism that former Minister of Justice, Eduard Halimi, describes as "a new style with MP proposals, but with an old voice."
According to the leaked draft law, the draft foresees a minimal movement of the reference salary coefficient from 0.36 to 0.38 of the President's salary. However, the real benefits are concentrated almost entirely at the higher levels of the system:
80% additional for work difficulties for magistrates of SPAK, Anti-Corruption Courts and Judges of the Supreme Court.
5% additional function only for members of the Supreme Court (which automatically extends to the Constitutional Court).
Only 0.02% increase for judges and prosecutors of first instance and appeal, who handle the bulk of the workload throughout the country.
"Ridiculous? Without a doubt. This inequality is not accidental... When it increases selectively for the high levels, while the majority remains almost the same, the effect becomes the opposite: it deepens inequality and demotivates honest judges," says Eduard Halimi, warning that this bill feeds and nurtures the terrible principle of KÇK in the judiciary, instead of fighting it.
This step by the majority follows a long political and judicial clash. The clash began when two associations of magistrates turned to the Constitutional Court to oppose the legal changes of 2023. While the public administration suffered massive salary increases, the old formulation related to the President's salary produced an imbalance that essentially reduced the real value of judges' salaries.
During the hearing, Prime Minister Edi Rama launched a series of public attacks on the judiciary, calling their request an "ugly farce," "foolishness," and a "moral and legal scandal." Rama declared at the time that the salaries of magistrates in Albania were the highest in the region and that there would be no increase as long as he was at the head of government.
Despite executive pressure, the Constitutional Court partially overturned the government's scheme, forcing the Assembly to adopt a new formula by July 31, 2026, that maintains equality and guarantees that the salaries of magistrates will not be reduced.
As Halimi notes, the solution that is being hastily proposed in the final days of the constitutional deadline risks creating a new system of privileges. It does not address the lack of accountability, the poor infrastructure, and the backlog of thousands of cases that deny justice to citizens, but deepens divisions within the judiciary itself.
