Albania’s High Judicial Council (KLGJ) has approved a 65,600-lek increase in the reference salary used to calculate judges’ pay, following a decision adopted unanimously on Wednesday.

Effective from August 1, 2026, judges’ salaries will be calculated based on a reference salary of 222,425 lek, up from 156,800 lek, plus a 14,000-lek qualification allowance. The decision comes after the Constitutional Court overturned the 2023 formula linking magistrates’ salaries to 36% of the president’s salary, ruling that it had resulted in a hidden reduction in pay.

The Constitutional Court had given Parliament until July 31 to establish a new legal framework. However, lawmakers only submitted a proposal shortly before the deadline, seeking to increase the coefficient from 0.36 to 0.38 of the president’s salary.

With the legal deadline expiring without a new law in force, the KLGJ moved to establish the reference salary itself. KLGJ member Albens Tabaku said during Wednesday’s meeting that the council’s decision was based on the binding nature of Constitutional Court rulings and Parliament’s failure to act within the deadline.

The decision follows calls from associations representing judges and prosecutors, which had argued that magistrates’ salaries should continue to be calculated under the formula applicable before the disputed 2023 changes. The KLGJ also accepted that the formula should apply to outstanding financial obligations for the period from April 1, 2023, to July 31, 2026.

The increase could significantly raise the salaries of judges, particularly those serving in the country’s highest courts and special structures. A similar decision concerning prosecutors would have to be taken by the General Prosecutor’s Office or SPAK.

The dispute over magistrates’ pay has been ongoing since 2023, when judges argued that changes to the salary reference had effectively frozen their earnings despite broader increases in public-sector wages. The Constitutional Court ruled in February 2026 that this amounted to a hidden reduction, contrary to constitutional guarantees protecting judicial salaries from being lowered.

Meanwhile, a bill submitted by two Socialist lawmakers proposes a new salary formula and additional benefits for senior judicial and prosecutorial officials. The proposal is expected to require government involvement because of its financial impact on the state budget.