Law No. ZRU-1177: court spending cannot be cut, and next year’s court budget may not fall below the previous one

Court spending cannot be cut, and as a general rule the courts’ budget for the next year may not fall below the previous one. This is established by Law No. ZRU-1177 of 11 September 2026 “On financing the activities of judicial bodies”. The law entered into force on 12 September 2026.

It was adopted by the Legislative Chamber on 17 March and approved by the Senate on 13 June.

Funding guarantees

• Courts are financed exclusively from the State Budget
• As a general rule, funds for the next financial year may not be lower than those allocated in the previous year
• Cutting court spending because of a revenue shortfall, the economic situation or a growing deficit is prohibited

This rule is also enshrined in the Budget Code.

How the court budget is prepared

The draft budget request is prepared by:

• The Constitutional Court
• The Supreme Court
• The Supreme Judicial Council
• The Department for Supporting the Activities of Courts under the Supreme Court

In case of disagreement, the government attaches their proposals to the draft budget law. The Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and the Supreme Judicial Council manage their own funds. Lower courts are financed through the Department.

What else changes

Each court must be provided with a separate building, security and vehicles. Amendments were also made to the laws “On Courts”, “On the Constitutional Court” and “On the Supreme Judicial Council”.

What this means in practice. For citizens and businesses, the law is another guarantee of judicial independence. A court’s material position no longer depends on budget performance or decisions of the executive. Together with tougher liability for pressure on courts, it strengthens the conditions for impartial dispute resolution, including cases involving state bodies.

Photo: DP Singh Bhullar, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)