President Nicușor Dan stated that in recent years, Romanian magistrates have worked two to three times more than magistrates in European countries.
He emphasized that those who are one year away from retirement should not have their retirement postponed for another year.
The head of state recalled that he proposed the transition period until the retirement age of magistrates reaches 65 years not to be ten years, but 15.
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"I requested 15 years instead of ten years (the transition period until the retirement age of magistrates reaches 65 years), because, unlike many other categories that have a service pension, a special pension, magistrates in Romania have actually worked much more than their counterparts in European countries. An aviator in Romania works as much as an aviator in Spain, a police officer in Romania works as much as a police officer in France, a military officer in Romania works as much as a military officer in Germany."
Magistrates have worked in these years two to three times more than their counterparts from European countries and therefore, for a person who has one year left until retirement, I believe it is reasonable, given the complicated fiscal context we are in, to ask them to work double. So, if they have one more year, they should work two. If they have three years left until retirement, they should work six. More seems excessive to me, because they have worked throughout this whole period," explained the president, as quoted by Agerpres.
The head of state said that the measures in the economic recovery package concerning magistrates were taken based on consultations and previous decisions of the Constitutional Court.
"I have also looked at older decisions of the Constitutional Court, I cannot say what the Constitutional Court will do regarding this measure. As I have seen the process, it has been done carefully and by reading the Constitutional Court decisions up to now," stated Nicușor Dan.
Regarding magistrates' pensions, the president also said that the amount of these pensions should be decided by Parliament.
"This is a discussion and I will let Parliament settle it. The government proposes and Parliament to settle," said Nicușor Dan.
Government changes rules for magistrates' pensions
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan announced on Wednesday that the legislative package regarding magistrates' pensions corrects two of the "three fundamental aspects that need to be resolved" in the system. The first change concerns the "very rapid" retirement of judges and prosecutors.
"No justice system in Europe allows the retirement of magistrates at 48 years old, as our system allows, after 25 years of service (...). Practically, this project extends the retirement age to 65 years, which is a fair thing compared to other categories," stated Bolojan, on Antena 3.
Another element of the reform concerns the level of pensions. "Until now, there was an abnormality, namely that the pension in the judiciary was equal to the last salary, which does not happen anywhere (...). The proposal we make is that the pension value should not exceed 70% of the last salary," specified the Prime Minister.
According to him, the average pension in the judiciary, currently at "4,800 - 5,000 euros", is expected to decrease to "approximately 3,500 euros."