Judiciary declines Rama’s roundtable on wages; government responds: we understand, work on the new law starts tomorrow

After the judiciary’s institutions refused to take part in the roundtable called by Prime Minister Edi Rama to discuss magistrates’ wages, the Prime Minister’s Office issued an official response, expressing readiness to continue the dialogue.

The High Court, the GJKKO and the judges’ associations have argued that the Constitutional Court’s decision should first be awaited, since the new wage law has been challenged before that court.

In the response signed by the Prime Minister’s Office Secretary General, Elsonida Rama, it says the request to postpone the meeting is understood, while stressing that inter-institutional dialogue remains important.

“We understand this request, although we assess that dialogue and inter-institutional cooperation among the various actors of the justice system remains important and, in principle, independent of other processes that may unfold in parallel,” the response says.

The Prime Minister’s Office also says it remains open to setting a new date for the meeting.

Meanwhile, the government warns that work on drafting the new law on wages will continue starting tomorrow. According to the Prime Minister’s Office, a general outline of the draft had been prepared for discussion at the planned roundtable.

“Starting tomorrow, we will continue work on drafting the new law on wages, on which a general outline had also been prepared, intended as part of the joint discussion and dialogue during the meeting,” the letter says.

Thus, despite the postponement of the roundtable, the Prime Minister’s Office signals that the process of drafting the new legal framework for magistrates’ wages will continue, while a new date for consultations with the judiciary’s institutions remains to be agreed.