A long and complicated road to reducing special pensions. CSM attacks Bolojan. CCR will have the final say

The justice system in Romania has reached a critical point. With 78% of citizens wanting to abolish special pensions, magistrates have started a brutal confrontation with the Government to maintain their privileges.
A long and complicated road to reducing special pensions. CSM attacks Bolojan. CCR will have the final say

Prosecutors and judges in Romania claim to be victims of stigmatization by the political power, considering the Prime Minister’s proposal to address the aberrations in the judges’ pension system as an undermining of judicial power.

The reaction of the Superior Council of Magistracy was swift, harsh, and subjective, coming shortly after the publication of a document by the Romanian Government proposing the public debate on the modification of some normative acts in the field of service pensions.

„The anticipated changes will create a new rift within the Romanian judiciary, leading to major discriminations between generations of judges and prosecutors, and in the long term will lead to the destruction of the justice system,” as stated in the CSM press release.

In the position taken by the Magistracy Council, there is no mention of the fact that only 38% of citizens trust the justice system, much lower than the Army, Presidency, or Police, another figure that should have long alerted prosecutors and judges in Romania being that 78% of citizens want the abolition of special pensions.

The public communication manner of the measures decided by the Government, in an approach more akin to a veritable dictate and without any consultation with the judicial authority, represents an abusive and discretionary manifestation of the executive power's prerogatives, which ridicule the principle of loyal cooperation between public authorities and the judiciary's status as a power within the state.

Superior Council of Magistracy Press Release

The struggle of the magistrates is not with President Nicușor Dan or Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, but with the general public, irritated by the fact that some magistrates retire before reaching the age of 50, and their pension is higher than their salary.

The fragile majority at the Constitutional Court will tip the balance

The proposal of the Prime Minister of Romania aims to partially address these issues, targeting a maximum pension of 70% of the last salary and a retirement age of 65, just like the rest of the population.

"It is totally absurd that in the current law, the pension received by a magistrate who chooses to leave the system is equal to the salary, which encourages people to leave," stated Nicușor Dan in a press conference held yesterday, July 30.

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ALLIANCE. President Nicușor Dan supports the proposals of Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan to reduce the special pensions of magistrates - Photo: Octav Ganea/ Inquam Photos

The strong and unusual reaction of the CSM is related to the possibility that the legislative changes proposed by Ilie Bolojan will pass the Constitutional Court this time.

For the first time in over a decade, there is a fragile majority in the Constitutional Court in favor of resolving the issue of magistrates' pensions and the age at which they can benefit from it.

This was also confirmed by lawyer Gabriela Savu, interviewed for this article, who said that "the proposals of Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan regarding the reform of magistrates' pensions, mainly referring to raising the retirement age to 65, increasing the minimum seniority to 35 years, and capping the pension at 70% of the net salary, ... have a chance to pass the constitutional review filter at the Constitutional Court as they are aspects of public policy falling within the legislator's will."

Gabriela Savu, partner at the law firm "Fenechiu, Savu & Asociatii," believes that the proposals announced by Ilie Bolojan, once legislated, have the potential to pass the CCR filter

"Of course, these aspects could also be subject to criticisms of unconstitutionality, depending on the manner of implementation and the transitional provisions that the legislative act in question may provide," added lawyer Gabriela Savu, for spotmedia.ro.

Challenging Modifications

The lawyer believes that the biggest problem related to the CCR filter is the proposal for the pension to be 70% of the net salary, "because there is a constant jurisprudence in the constitutional review that, regarding the amount of magistrates' pensions, it must be close to the income the magistrate had during their active period," explained Gabriela Savu.

Another problem, of a political and legal nature, is how the legislative changes will be implemented.

One of the questions posed to lawyer Gabriela Savu was whether, in case it is referred, it has any significance for the CCR if the changes are made by emergency ordinance, through assuming responsibility in Parliament, or by an organic law.

ModificariPensii

"The method of adopting a legislative measure (ordinance, law, assuming responsibility) has legal value and has a significant impact on the constitutionality analysis carried out by the CCR," said lawyer Savu.

"It is not possible for the government to legislate by ordinance because the regulation of the status of judges and prosecutors must be done by an organic law, so the method of adopting a normative act of amendment in this matter, in my opinion, should be an organic law...," added the legal expert.

Regarding assuming responsibility, CCR "has issued several decisions in which it held that in the procedure of the Government assuming responsibility for a bill, as a simplified way of legislation, it should only be reached as a last resort, it is not acceptable for the provisions of art. 114 of the Constitution, which regulate the Government assuming responsibility for a bill, to be interpreted as allowing the Government to substitute the Parliament and legislate anytime and under any conditions," explained Gabriela Savu.

Who Is Destroying the Justice System

The proposals made by Ilie Bolojan were publicly supported by the President of Romania but received with reservations within the governing coalition.

Representatives of the PSD, at the meeting of the leaders of the parties in the government, held yesterday, July 30, asked the Prime Minister not to announce any reform measures until they have been discussed and validated within the coalition.

If this is added to the fact that the adoption of the second package of fiscal measures regarding expense reduction was postponed to the beginning of September, there are enough indications of tremendous resistance to change within the coalition, mainly manifested by the PSD.

"The Prime Minister's discourse proves, at least to me, that the thinking behind it is not that of a chess player, it is not a long-term one, if he prefers to destroy the image of one of the state powers (which, unlike the others, has no other means to defend itself, except for the codes by which it judges)," wrote Judge Claudiu Drăgușin, a CSM member, on his Facebook page, harshly criticizing the proposals of Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan.

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INDIVIDUAL ATTACK. Judge Claudiu Drăgușin, CSM member, criticized Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan in his own name, stating that there is no long-term strategy for the justice system - Photo Source: Facebook/ Claudiu Drăgușin

The confrontation between magistrates and the Nicușor Dan - Ilie Bolojan axis is just beginning, with the referee of this dispute ultimately being the Constitutional Court.

The magistrates have on their side a party within the governing coalition, with immense corruption problems, namely the PSD, while the Dan-Bolojan tandem has public support from over 70% of voters, across all political spectrums, on the issue of special pensions.

"The destruction of any democracy begins with the destruction of the justice system. Any dictatorship begins with the destruction of the justice system. I am not saying this, history says it," Judge Drăgușin further wrote, without specifying that the destruction of the justice system was achieved precisely by creating a privileged caste that positioned itself above the law and citizens.


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