Salaries for judges at first-instance courts are set to increase from January 1, 2027, when the new salary law comes into force. Finance Minister Victoria Belous announced that the salary grades for judges serving in lower courts have been revised, taking into account several proposals submitted by the Superior Council of Magistracy (SCM).
“We proposed that judges who pass the vetting process should have the opportunity to receive salaries that are more than 50% higher. Following the opinions submitted by the SCM, we revised the salary grades for first-instance court judges. However, we cannot afford to introduce the increases that were requested. Objections to the salary law have come from everyone, not just the SCM and the Superior Council of Prosecutors. Everyone wants higher salaries, but we must not forget the budget’s capacity to finance these increases,” Finance Minister Victoria Belous said during the Rezoomat programme on Realitatea TV.
The minister explained that adjustments had been made to the salary grades of first-instance judges. However, requests for higher judicial salaries cannot be fully accommodated due to budgetary constraints.
“For judges at first-instance courts, we have adjusted the salary grades and taken some of the proposals into account,” the Finance Minister explained.
Asked when the Constitutional Court’s decision requiring judges’ salaries to be adjusted annually in line with the inflation rate would be implemented, Victoria Belous cited budgetary constraints and said the state could not afford to introduce the measure under the current austerity conditions.
“The Constitutional Court has issued such a decision, but we must remember that state budget revenue growth is not indexed every year. The Republic of Moldova’s budget has its limits. We need to be aware of and understand the budgetary parameters within which we operate,” Victoria Belous stressed.