Judicial Workload and Compensation: EU Law Does Not Mandate Extra Pay for Covering Vacant Posts (CJEU)
Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-272/24 (Tribunalul Galați) on 13.11.2025: A judge who carries out tasks which fall to a vacant post at his or her court, in addition to those within the remit of the post to which he or she has been appointed, is not necessarily entitled to financial compensation. The grant of a rest period to compensate for the additional work is, under certain conditions, an adequate measure. The Galați Regional Court (Romania) is understaffed due to various judicial posts remaining vacant. A judge who has been working at that court since 2017 took the view that, since 2019, he has performed not only the tasks associated with his own post, but also, in part, those tasks linked to vacant posts. Being of the opinion that he has worked overtime, that judge requested that he be remunerated for it. Specifically, he brought legal proceedings to claim a share of the net salaries and allowances attached to the vacant posts, divided by the number of judges in ac...