Members of the justice system have found “retroactive payments” to be an advantageous and opaque mechanism for further boosting their large paychecks. The payments are not limited by the constitutional ceiling and have caused billion-dollar impacts on the Judiciary’s budget.

From Jan.2018 to Apr.2025, the Judiciary distributed at least R$10.3 billion in benefits that, according to the judges themselves, should have been used in previous years. So far, the record for payments in a single year occurred in 2024, with R$3 billion paid out, with seven out of ten magistrates benefiting.

• On May 20, 2025, the National Council of Justice ruled that retroactive payments can only be made by a final court decision, but the decision is only valid for “new rights and advantages”, i.e. it allows courts to continue or start payments already established by administrative decisions;
• The Public Prosecutor’s Office also uses this advantageous mechanism, but due to the greater opacity in their paychecks, it was not possible to estimate the amounts received by prosecutors;
• Transparência Brasil recommends that the CNJ review Resolution 621 to restrict retroactive payments authorized by administrative decisions already issued, and that the National Congress does not approve Bill 2.721/21, the Supersalaries Bill, in its current wording.