Magistrates’ Salaries: Rama Summons Justice Leaders to the Prime Minister’s Office — Roundtable on September 28 for the New Formula

Prime Minister Edi Rama has invited the institutions of the justice system to a joint consultation roundtable on the issue of magistrates’ salaries.

Top Channel has learned that the invitation went to all justice institutions, announcing that the meeting will take place on September 28 at 12:30 PM at the Prime Minister’s Office, and according to the invitation it aims to serve as the starting point of an inter-institutional consultation and dialogue process on how salaries in the justice system are determined.

The invitation to the institutions stresses that the discussion will focus on the principles, criteria and instruments that should guide salary policy, taking into account budgetary sustainability, inter-institutional coherence and proportionality between functions and responsibilities.

“The aim is the joint discussion of the principles and elements on which a sustainable, coherent and predictable mechanism for determining salaries in the justice system can be built, in line with European standards,” the invitation reads.

According to the invitation, the consultation will not be limited only to the current salary level, but aims to define a sustainable mechanism for determining and periodically reviewing them.

The government wants this mechanism to rest on clear and objective rules, aiming for a joint approach among institutions.

The document also stresses that the process aims to contribute to the independence, integrity and professionalism of the justice system, while at the same time guaranteeing the state’s financial sustainability.

Rama’s invitation comes at a moment when the issue of magistrates’ salaries has turned into an institutional debate between justice bodies and the executive.

A few days ago, Parliament also approved a new formula for the reference salary, raising the coefficient from 0.36 to 0.38 of the President’s salary, while this formula has been opposed by several justice institutions.