Albanian courts suspend activity for three days as judicial salary deadlock reaches High Judicial Council
Off Radar · Friday, 11 September 2026
Why it matters
The three-day suspension shows that the dispute is already impairing court operations, not merely affecting payrolls. For a reader tracking fragile rule-of-law systems and quiet institutional power struggles in the Balkans, Albania offers a concrete test of whether the legislature, judiciary and budget process can implement a binding constitutional decision without disabling the courts.
What happened
A significant number of courts across Albania suspended activity for three days amid a deadlock over judges’ and court staff salaries. The High Judicial Council convened an extraordinary session after the Assembly failed to resolve a recalculation formula that the Constitutional Court had ordered, while the High Judicial Council and High Council of Prosecution moved to set pay themselves. HJC chair Sokol Sadushi said salaries had been blocked following the Constitutional Court decision, turning the dispute into an institutional conflict over enforcement of constitutional rulings and the functioning of the courts; he also called for court administrative staff to be paid.
Players & places
- Albania
- High Judicial Council of Albania
- Constitutional Court of Albania
- Assembly of Albania
- High Council of Prosecution
- Sokol Sadushi