Courts without judges: why the conflict over judicial remuneration could cost the state billions

The Ukrainian judicial system has entered into a large-scale financial and legal conflict. After the entry into force of Law No. 4905-IX, the judicial remuneration should be calculated using the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons of UAH 3,328. At the same time, budget financing continues to rely on the “frozen” indicator of UAH 2,102. Against the background of more than two thousand vacant positions and a critical load on judges, the dispute may end with thousands of lawsuits against the state and billions of budget obligations.

The law exists, but the money remained according to the old rules

Law No. 4905-IX entered into force on June 25, 2026. Along with it, amendments to Article 135 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges” came into force.

The new norm provides for the application of the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons, which is UAH 3,328, to determine the official salary of a judge.

However, the actual transition to the new calculation ran into a budgetary issue. The Ministry of Finance refers to the Law on the State Budget, which sets the indicator of UAH 2,102 for the relevant calculations.

As a result, a legal conflict arose: the relevant law establishes one indicator, while the budget allocations are formed based on another.

UAH 1.7 billion is available, but they cannot use it

One of the main arguments against the immediate transition to the new amount of remuneration is the lack of necessary budget appropriations.

At the same time, data from the State Judicial Administration indicate that about UAH 1.6–1.7 billion of free balance has accumulated in the accounts of the special fund. Part of these funds was formed at the expense of court fee revenues.

According to the calculations of the State Judicial Administration, such a resource may be enough to ensure the payment of judicial remuneration at the rate of UAH 3,328 by the end of 2026 for local and appellate courts – without additional funding from the general fund.

However, there is a fundamental problem: the presence of money in the accounts does not allow the judicial system to automatically direct it to pay remuneration.

This requires appropriate budget decisions and approvals.

As a result, a paradoxical situation has arisen: there is a financial resource, but the judicial system cannot independently use it to implement the law.

More than 2 thousand judicial seats remain empty

Another potential source of funding is savings that arise due to the huge number of vacant positions.

As of August 2026, 2,198 judicial positions remain vacant in Ukraine.

The situation is especially difficult in the courts of appeal. With a staff of 744 judges, only 376 actually administer justice.

In local general courts, the situation looks like this:

4,018 staff positions — 2,707 judges who actually administer justice.

In district administrative courts, out of 610 full-time positions, only 357 judges work.

Thus, the state does not spend part of the funds that, if the system were fully staffed, should be directed to judicial remuneration.

It is the use of such internal savings that may become one of the options for implementing the new law.

One judge actually works for several

The staff shortage directly affects the speed of case processing.

In the first half of 2026, 1,764,424 cases were received by local general courts.

According to the calculations of the Council of Judges of Ukraine, the standard time for their consideration is about 5.3 million hours.

To process such a volume of cases with a standard workload, 6,473 judges are needed. In fact, 2,707 judges administer justice.

The situation is even more acute in general courts of appeal: with an estimated normative need of 1,043 judges, only 376 actually work.

That is, the workload on individual judges can reach 250–300% of the normative one.

For citizens, the consequences of this staff shortage are quite practical – longer waiting times for cases to be considered and an increasing workload on the courts.

Savings today can turn into debts tomorrow

Formally, the state saves money due to unfilled judicial vacancies. However, in the long term, such savings may turn out to be illusory.

If the courts recognize the right of judges to remuneration calculated from the indicator of 3,328 UAH, the amounts unpaid today may turn into budget debts.

Moreover, the state will potentially be forced to compensate not only for the difference in payments.

The Chairman of the Cassation Administrative Court, Ihor Dashutin, predicts that representatives of the judicial system may file about 4,000 lawsuits against the state.

In this case, other expenses stipulated by law may potentially be added to the main payments.

The amount of UAH 2.7 billion is mentioned for the implementation of the law

According to available calculations, for the full implementation of Law No. 4905-IX in 2026, approximately UAH 2.7 billion of additional appropriations are required across the entire judicial system.

It is precisely around financing that the conflict actually arose.

On the one hand, there is Law No. 4905-IX with an estimated value of UAH 3,328. On the other hand, there are budget allocations formed taking into account the figure of UAH 2,102.

Therefore, the dispute goes far beyond the issue of finding additional funds. In fact, it is about whether budget legislation can limit