President Nicuşor Dan stated on Wednesday, July 30, in a press conference that the current system, which allows magistrates to retire under the age of 50 with a pension higher than their salary, is absurd. He also criticized the Superior Council of Magistracy, or CSM, for the current “disorderly” state of the Romanian justice system.
The president noted that the current law encourages people to leave the justice system. “Through this phenomenon, we have lost many specialists, we have lost the quality of the act of justice,” Nicuşor Dan also said.
In Romania, the president signs retirement requests forwarded by magistrates, so Nicusor Dan could observe the phenomenon up close, according to his statements. “During this period, two of the magistrates withdrew their requests and decided to remain in the profession,” he added, highlighting the current uncertainty. He also signaled that magistrates who submitted retirement requests but wish to continue working can write to him until the end of the week.
Nevertheless, many requests were poorly written, according to the president. There “arises a question for the CSM. What is with this disorder? 70% of retirement requests do not indicate a precise retirement date. People, in general, retire but take care not to affect the circuit,” Nicusor Dan said.
“There is a very good rule that the CSM instituted a few years ago that says the magistrate who says they want to retire, at least 90 days in advance, notifies the court where they work, and the head of that court ensures they are no longer assigned to panels, so that in those days they can draft all the decisions they have not yet drafted. 90% of retirement requests do not meet this condition,” the head of state said.
The president also said that he will ask the government to remove an article of law regarding the re-employment of retired magistrates. According to the current law, these magistrates receive the judge’s allowance and 15% of their pension.
“I will request that this possibility be removed from the law regarding magistrates’ pensions, and my proposal is to set a term of five years, not three years as it is now, in which the retired judge can only return with his allowance to the same court from which he left,” the president also said.
Earlier this week, Romanian prime minister Ilie Bolojan unveiled a project to reform the magistrates’ pension system. Among the essential changes in the proposal are raising the retirement age for magistrates to 65 years, increasing the minimum length of service to 35 years, and capping the pension to no more than 70% of the net salary, compared to the current formula, which allows pensions to go higher than active income. Bolojan explained that current public system salary laws are unclear, allow interpretations, and have generated numerous lawsuits in court.
In reply, the Superior Council of Magistracy said in a press release that the modification of the retirement age and the amount of magistrates’ pensions “flagrantly” violates the principles enshrined in the Constitution and international regulations.
(Photo source: Inquam Photos | George Calin)
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