The entry into force of Law No. 4905-ИХ was supposed to put an end to the long-standing discriminatory practice of using a low subsistence minimum to calculate judges’ remuneration. The new wording of Article 135 of the Law “On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges” stipulates that no other value may be used to calculate a judge’s salary than the full subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons.
Ministry of Finance VS Law
However, the executive branch of government, represented by the Ministry of Finance, refuses to agree on changes to the expenditure schedules. The Ministry of Finance claims that the Law on the State Budget for 2026, which set the figure of 2,102 hryvnias for judges, has priority over a special law. The situation surrounding the financing of the judicial system is only getting worse. The price of the issue is no longer just money, but the constitutional guarantee of the independence of the court. The judiciary is appealing to the highest state bodies, and the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada is trying, together with the courts, to convince the Ministry of Finance to unblock the payments, while the administrator has the opportunity to resolve the issue without additional agreements. And although the Ministry of Finance insists on its position, during the next meeting of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy, it was questioned. At the center of the discussion is the conflict between budget restrictions and guarantees of judicial remuneration. Article 130 of the Constitution directly establishes that the amount of a judge’s remuneration is determined by the law on the judiciary.
And it is Law No. 4905-ИХ as a later act that should be taken into account when resolving this legal problem. The refusal of the Ministry of Finance to agree to the use of funds from the special fund may become the subject of a legal dispute, and the State Judicial Administration is being offered to consider the possibility of defending its position in court.
Blocking the special fund: there is money, but there is no access
The most incomprehensible aspect in this situation is the financial aspect. The State Judicial Administration confirmed that the accounts of the special fund formed at the expense of the court fee have accumulated over UAH 1.6–1.7 billion of free balance. The SJA believes that these funds fully cover the need for payments until the end of 2026. The Ministry of Finance is only required to provide technical approval for the use of these funds. However, the ministry is on the defensive, blocking the right of the administrators of the funds to implement the law. The Supreme Court also reported on the availability of funds from the special fund and an appeal to the Ministry of Finance to approve their use for the remuneration of judges.
That is, the conflict is not even in the lack of funds, but primarily in the lack of approval of the mechanism for their use. The SJA and representatives of the judicial system believe that the available resources of the special fund can be directed to the implementation of the current legislative norm. During the meeting of the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada, a proposal was even made to consider the possibility of applying parliamentary control and judicial protection.
Can the administrator of the funds decide for himself?
The situation in different courts turned out to be completely different. Currently, there are two categories of judges: those who will receive judicial remuneration according to the new – legal calculation, and those for whom nothing has changed with the entry into force of the law.
For example, the High Anti-Corruption Court and the Constitutional Court of Ukraine have already been making payments according to the new standard since June 25, 2026. This became possible, as they are the main administrators of funds and were able to find resources within their limits without additional approval from the Ministry of Finance. Local and appellate courts, which are financed through the State Judicial Administration, found themselves in the most difficult situation, since they are completely dependent on the Ministry of Finance’s approval of the use of special fund funds.
Why the CAS of the Supreme Court requires a change in the staffing: Igor Dashutin’s position
During the committee meeting, the Chairman of the CAS of the Supreme Court Igor Dashutin emphasized that the failure to implement the law has already led to the emergence of artificial discrimination within the judicial corps. He pointed out the inadmissibility of the situation when judges of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Judicial Council receive remuneration at the rate of 3,328 UAH, while the frozen figure of 2,102 UAH continues to operate for the rest of the system. According to him, administrative justice considers such an approach a direct violation of the single status of judges. Moreover, Igor Dashutin directly asked representatives of the Ministry of Finance: what exactly is the legal norm that gives the ministry the right to actually postpone the entry into force of the current law? Dashutin emphasized that the implementation of legally established guarantees cannot depend on the desire or capabilities of officials, since this nullifies the principle of the rule of law.
As one of the arguments of administrative justice, Dashutin named the availability of resources in a special fund. He noted that the judicial system itself proposed a mechanism for solving the problem without burdening the general budget fund. His position was supported by the meeting of judges of the CAS of the Supreme Court: the Supreme Court, as the main administrator, does not require approvals to redistribute its own available funds to fulfill the mandatory norm of the law.
Igor Dashutin initiated the appeal of the meeting of judges of the CAS of the Supreme Court to the Chairman of the Supreme Court with a demand to bring the staffing list into line with the legislation from June 25, 2026.
In his opinion, not bringing the staffing list to UAH 3,328 is the only real obstacle to payments, since the court has financial resources.
Staffing list of the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court also claims to have sufficient funds in both the general and special funds. However, the Ministry of Finance refuses to agree on changes to the staffing list and the list of expenses. And here a separate issue is the position of the Supreme Court leadership. The meeting of judges of the Cassation Administrative Court proposed to the Chairman of the Supreme Court Stanislav Kravchenko to bring the staffing list in line with the law. The meeting of judges emphasized that the Supreme Court is the main administrator, and accordingly does not require permits to redistribute its own funds within the available resources.
Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court Oleksandr Mamaluy informed the committee that the court leadership plans to make changes to the staffing list from approximately October 2026. This is due to the fact that due to the savings in the general fund of the court, there will be enough resources to pay the remuneration at the new rate only if such payments begin in October, and not retrospectively from June.
The representative of the Ministry of Finance confirmed that the ministry does not influence the staffing lists – this is the exclusive right of the chief administrator. The problem arises at the stage of approving changes to estimates and expenditure lists, which the Ministry of Finance refuses to sign, citing the priority of the budget law.
Oleksandr Mamaluy also noted that due to technical limitations of the Ministry of Finance software, the Supreme Court cannot generate a budget request for 2027 with the correct indicators, since the program allows only old figures to be entered. He expressed doubts that the Plenum of the Supreme Court will even agree to approve a budget request with old indicators that do not comply with the law.
That is, there is already an internal discussion in the Supreme Court. The meeting of judges of the CAS of the Supreme Court demands a change in the staffing from June at the expense of existing reserves, while the management plans to do this only in October in order to ensure payments by the end of the year within the existing savings of the general fund.
4,000 lawsuits and risks for the state
Representatives of Themis warned of the risk of mass appeals by judges to the court due to non-payment of judicial remuneration in the amount stipulated by Law No. 4905-IX. At the meeting of the Committee, even an approximate estimate was made – 4,000 lawsuits. And judicial lawsuits will trigger a chain reaction: the state will be forced to pay not only the debt for judicial remuneration, but also inflationary losses, legal costs and the execution of court decisions. As a result, the longer the implementation of the law is postponed, the more expensive the consequences of such a “pause” will be. The main subject of criticism was the position of the Ministry of Finance regarding the impossibility of using the funds of the special fund to ensure the payment of judicial remuneration under the new rules. Representatives of the judicial system indicated that the necessary financial resource is available in the system, but its use requires the approval of the Ministry of Finance.
Following the discussion, the Committee decided to invite the Minister of Finance to a meeting to personally provide explanations regarding the Ministry’s position and the reasons for the non-approval of the relevant budget decisions necessary for the implementation of Law No. 4905-IX.
