High Court of Cassation and Justice judges decided on Thursday to challenge to the Constitutional Court the law on the reform of service pensions for which the Bolojan Government assumed responsibility in Parliament.
The decision was taken unanimously by 86 judges present at the Joint Sections meeting of the High Court of Cassation and Justice, according to Digi24.
"Even though the majority of the High Court of Cassation and Justice judges are protected by the transitional provisions of this law, through today's exercise, they assume a duty of conscience: to assess the possibility of referring the matter to the Constitutional Court for the defense of the future of justice in Romania. A justice system built with difficulty, through years of sacrifices and renunciations that risk being weakened by such conjunctural measures," stated Lia Savonea for G4Media.ro.
According to the project, the pension for magistrates will be a maximum of 70% of the net salary received in the last month of activity. At the same time, the project provides that, in over 10 years, magistrates will retire at the age of 65.
President Nicușor Dan had proposed to the coalition that the transition period until the retirement age of magistrates reaches 65 years should not be ten years, but fifteen.
The head of state specified that, in recent years, magistrates in Romania have worked two to three times more than their counterparts in European countries.
"I requested 15 years instead of ten years (the transition period until the retirement age of magistrates reaches 65 years - ed.), 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 policeman in Romania works as much as a policeman in France, a soldier in Romania works as much as a soldier in Germany.
Magistrates have worked in these years two to three times more than their counterparts in European countries and therefore, for a person who has one year left until retirement, I believe it is reasonable, given the complicated fiscal context in which we find ourselves, to ask them to work double. Meaning they have one more year, they should do two. They have three more years until retirement, they should work six. More seems excessive to me, because they have worked throughout this entire period," explained the president.
When asked on Tuesday, if he will resign if the project regarding magistrates' pensions does not pass the Constitutional Court, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan replied: "When you have an important project that is a milestone, if it does not pass, it is hard to assume that the government still has the legitimacy to come up with other measures."
Similarly, the UDMR president, Kelemen Hunor, stated on Tuesday evening that a potential failure of the law on the reform of magistrates' pensions at the Constitutional Court could trigger strong dissatisfaction among the population.
The leader of the Union argues that the adopted text is "correct" and "balanced," and a rejection would undermine confidence in the state's ability to regulate.
"This risk is constantly present. I'm telling you, if this correct, extremely balanced version fails at the Constitutional Court, then I don't know what else can be done and popular revolt would be extremely justified. You cannot have the Parliament, Government, Legislature not having the power, the capacity to regulate a certain area, because there are people who do not accept that there is regulation and perhaps self-regulation is the only possibility they accept. If it fails at the Constitutional Court, it is better for all of us to go home," Kelemen Hunor affirmed on Digi24.