Between 2023 and 2024, state and federal prosecutors’ offices distributed R$2.9 billion in retroactive payments to active prosecutors. In the period, 60% of the members of the 27 MPs analyzed received additional amounts under this heading. This is what the latest study produced by Transparência Brasil and República.org reveals.

Retroactive payments are today one of the main mechanisms for increasing remuneration in the justice system, allowing incomes to exceed the constitutional ceiling. These are amounts that the bodies themselves recognize as being due in previous years, mainly related to bonuses for length of service, accumulation of functions and compensation for salary equalization with other careers.

Of the total paid out in the two-year period, R$2.6 billion (89%) was authorized by internal administrative decisions, with no associated court order.

The study examined data from 27 of the 30 state and federal prosecutors’ offices. The Public Prosecutors’ Offices of Santa Catarina and Mato Grosso do Sul are opaque and do not inform the nominal amounts received, and the agency of Pará does not make the complete base available for download.

Around 1,900 members (15% of the total number of active prosecutors) received more than R$ 500,000 in back pay in the period. Of these, 653 received more than R$1 million, and 67 received more than R$2 million.

The largest absolute volume of payments was recorded in the Rio de Janeiro Public Prosecutor’s Office, which distributed R$852 million over two years. This was followed by the Public Prosecutors’ Offices of Paraná (R$ 547 million), São Paulo (R$ 373 million), Minas Gerais and Maranhão.

A prosecutor from the Maranhão Public Prosecutor’s Office was the largest individual beneficiary, with R$4 million in retroactive payments. The 40 largest payments identified in the survey are concentrated in the Maranhão Public Prosecutor’s Office.

STATES

Proportionally, the state prosecutors disbursed more retroactive payments than the federal branches. In Maranhão, the median received per member in the period was R$1.27 million; in Rio de Janeiro, it reached R$1.21 million.

In three states – Bahia, Paraná and Rio Grande do Norte – more than 93% of members received retroactive payments, indicating widespread adoption of the practice.

In some cases, the payments maintained extinct benefits. In the DAs of Bahia, Mato Grosso and Rio Grande do Norte, retroactive payments related to housing allowance totaled R$33.9 million, distributed to 323 members. In Rio Grande do Norte, 134 prosecutors received more than R$100,000 under this heading alone. The generalization of the allowance ended in 2018 by decision of the Supreme Court.

From 2023 to 2024, spending on retroactive payments increased in eight units: Goiás, Maranhão, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Rondônia, São Paulo and the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office. Although 16 agencies maintained stability or reduced payments, the increase in these units was enough to raise the national total in 2024. Three MPs did not register any distribution of retroactive payments in the period.

In view of the volume and the lack of effective external control, the National Council of Public Prosecutors is discussing a rule similar to Resolution 621 of the National Council of Justice, which makes the payment of back pay conditional on a final and unappealable court decision. The proposal has been pending since June 2025 and has not yet been considered by the full CNMP.

The measure, even if approved, is insufficient, as it would not affect payments already authorized administratively or prevent the continuation of internally recognized advantages.

A study published last year by Transparência Brasil revealed that the judiciary distributed R$10.3 billion in retroactive payments between January 2018 and May 2025, benefiting 79% of judges.

For the organizations that authored the study, tackling so-called super salaries in the public service necessarily involves strict control of retroactive payments, especially in the Judiciary and the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

In this sense, the organizations express support for the recent actions of the Federal Supreme Court that could lead to the restriction of the payment of retroactive and other pendurical benefits. On February 19, 2026, Justice Flávio Dino prohibited the “recognition of any new installment relating to an alleged past right” (RCL 88319), which in practice prevents the creation of new retroactive payments. On February 23 of the same year, Justice Gilmar Mendes ordered “the interruption of all payments based on administrative decisions and secondary normative acts”, which potentially includes retroactive payments (ADI 6606). República.org and Transparência Brasil therefore advocate that these decisions be upheld by the full STF.

“Retrospective payments have become a central cog in the wheels of pay increases in the justice system. These are not isolated cases, but a widespread and institutionalized practice,” says Paula Frias, Data Coordinator at República.org.