Dissatisfaction with the Romanian justice system
Policy makers in Bucharest say they want to correct abnormalities in the justice system
Bogdan Matei, 31.07.2025, 14:00
As avid consumers of American movies, Romanian audiences have long noticed that in the United States, in feature films or series featuring courtroom scenes, those who dispense justice are often septuagenarians with white hair, wrinkles, and thick glasses. Old age is considered there to be a prerequisite for wisdom, professional experience, and life experience. And that is why Romanians are all the more irritated that in their country, thanks to special laws, judges and prosecutors can retire around the age of 50, considered to be the age of full professional competence and maturity. And that some can receive pensions higher than their salaries, pensions that, on average, hover around the equivalent of five thousand euros.
As part of a package of measures aimed at reducing the record budget deficit for a European Union member state, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan announced on Tuesday a bill proposing to raise the standard retirement age for magistrates to 65. The bill also stipulates that a magistrate’s pension should be a maximum of 70% of their last net salary, rather than 80% of their gross salary, as is currently the case. Predictably, the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) reacted promptly and harshly, stating that the measures announced by the prime minister would be unconstitutional from the outset and, in the long term, would lead to the destruction of the justice system. The CSM also complains about a campaign to stigmatize magistrates in order to undermine the judiciary and its independence and to divert attention from the real problems of society.
On Wednesday, it was President Nicuşor Dan’s turn to express his dissatisfaction with the justice system, especially with the public prosecutor’s office. He mentioned that, in many cases, investigations take a very long time and are too bureaucratic. The head of state also said that, during the trial phase, important cases take an extremely long time. Regarding the retirement of magistrates, the president noted that the current legislation and the size of the pensions encourage people to leave the system early. The head of state added, after reviewing dozens of retirement requests he had received for signature, that 90% of them did not comply with the rule that a magistrate must announce their intention to leave the system at least 90 days in advance so as not to affect the work of the court where they work. From all this, said President Dan, a question arises for the CSM: “What is going on with this chaos?” He announced that he wants to have a discussion with the prime minister, the minister of justice, and representatives of the magistrates in order to provide predictability to the act of justice. Until then, all sociological research shows that, in recent years, Romanians’ trust in the justice system, from the Constitutional Court to the lowest provincial court, has plummeted dramatically. (MI)
