Mirela Bogdani, chairwoman of Albania’s High Prosecutorial Council, has challenged the salary formula proposed for magistrates in draft legislation currently being reviewed by Parliament’s Law Committee, arguing that the planned increase does not reflect the standard set by the Constitutional Court.

Speaking during the committee’s discussions, Bogdani said there was a significant gap between the formula proposed in the draft law and the calculations made by the High Prosecutorial Council following the Constitutional Court’s ruling.

Bogdani said the Council had held a series of lengthy and technical discussions after the court’s decision, including over the appropriate reference salary for magistrates.

According to Bogdani, the Council had determined that the reference should be based on Category 2B, corresponding to the position of a director within Albania’s state administration.

She said, however, that based on the information available to the Council about the draft legislation — which was approved by Parliament’s Economy Commission a day earlier — the proposed increase of 0.02% was minimal compared with the salary calculations made by the Council following the Constitutional Court’s ruling.

“There is a very large difference,” Bogdani said, arguing that the proposal does not reflect the standard established by the Constitutional Court or the principle used to reference salaries within the state administration.

Bogdani also stressed that a detailed assessment would require further financial expertise, saying specialists should examine how the Constitutional Court’s decision should be interpreted and how the salaries should ultimately be calculated.

“In principle, I would say that it does not reflect [the standard],” she said, while noting that further hearings and expert analysis would be necessary to assess the details.