AEAJ Lisbon Statement on Judicial Remuneration

AEAJ Lisbon Statement on Judicial Remuneration

AEAJ addresses current issues related to judicial remuneration and raises awareness on the need on adequate principles and proper mechanisms to address issues related to judicial remuneration, in order to safeguard judicial independence and grant a proper level of remuneration to highly skilled professionals playing a crucial role for the rule of law in contemporary democracies.
Judicial remuneration raise systematic issues and reached a critically low level in several European countries.
In the continuity of the preparatory work of the Advisory Group, AEAJ engaged into the redaction and adoption of a Statement on Judicial remuneration, which has the value of a position paper for AEAJ.
The statement was debated and approved by the WG Independence and Administrative Justice in Lisbon on 22. May 2026 and definitively adopted by AEAJ Board on 24. June 2026.
A PDF version of the statement is accessible via this link.
LISBON STATEMENT ON JUDICIAL REMUNERATION
 
 
The Association of European Administrative Judges, gathered in Lisbon on 22. May 2026, approved the following statement:
 
1- Specific nature of judicial remuneration. Illustration Aqueduc LisbonneAdministrative judges, as all judges, ensure the effectiveness of the Rule of law and play therefore a central role in contemporary liberal democracies. Their independence precludes considering them as being under the authority of either the executive or legislative power, including on financial matters. The remuneration of judges, given their particular status, raises specific issues compared with those affecting the civil service in general.

2- Adequate constitutional and conventional safeguards. Judicial remuneration must be protected by standards at the highest legal level, insofar as their independence is at stake. These standards may derive from specific provisions and principles and/or by interpretation of principles derived from judicial independence.

3- Appropriate level. Remuneration must ensure judges a proper standard of living, commensurate with their position, as well as protection from external and internal pressures and, in any case, be sufficient to prevent corruption. It needs to attract the most highly-skilled legal professionals and ensure that judges maintain appropriate standing vis-à-vis state officials, members of legal professions and the civil service, especially senior civil servants.

4- Objective criteria. Judicial remuneration must ensure equal treatment among judges and be determined on the basis of objective criteria. A significant gap establishes the inadequacy of the level of remuneration in the context under consideration.

5- Adjustment over time. Rules on judicial remuneration must include an indexation mechanism to keep pace with the evolution of the cost of living, average salaries and remunerations within the civil service.

6- Variable remuneration. In the countries where judicial remuneration includes a variable component, it can only be small and respect requirements of foreseeability, objectivity and transparency.

7- Disciplinary guarantees. Negative decisions directly or indirectly affecting the remuneration of a judge may only be taken within the framework of a disciplinary proceeding susceptible of judicial review.

8- Pensions. Pensions granted to judges upon retirement must be treated in the same way as remuneration and follow the principles set above.
 
Adopted by the AEAJ Board on 24. June 2026.