Romania’s
\nJustice Minister, C\u0103t\u0103lin Predoiu, has warned the speculation in the public
\nsphere regarding the so-called special pensions that don’t observe the
\ncontribution principle, may disrupt the activity of courts of law and
\nprosecutors’ offices, as many magistrates might choose to mass-retire. In the
\nlast days alone, 65 retirement requests were submitted to the Superior Council
\nof Magistracy (CSM). The applicants include a few sonorous names, such as a CSM
\njudge, Gabriela Baltag, the head of the former Special Section investigating
\nCrime in Justice, Adina Florea, or Felix B\u0103nil\u0103, the former head of the
\nDirectorate Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT). <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Minister
\nPredoiu met with representatives of the top institutions in the field, giving
\nassurances that the government is currently not examining any project aimed at
\nmodifying the current legislation in the justice system. Any such project, the
\nRomanian official argued, will have to undergo a number of steps prior to its
\nadoption, and the Ministry will issue an opinion only after ensuring
\nmagistrates stay independent and the justice system will remain efficient.
\nPensions are a constituent of the magistrates’ status, C\u0103t\u0103lin Predoiu went on
\nto say. The Justice Minister called for public responsibility when debating the
\nissue, including from magistrates. Concerns spiked after the World Bank
\nfinalized its plan for reforming the pension system in Romania, also suggesting
\nthat current pensions should observe the contribution system, by scrapping any
\nprivileged categories exempted from this rule. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Additionally, the World Bank
\nwants all special pensions to be capped at the level of income reported during
\nmagistrates’ term in office, while the retirement age of magistrates should be
\nthe same as for any other public worker. Pension reform is a top goal under the
\nRecovery and Resilience Plan, which the authorities have agreed upon with EU
\nrepresentatives and which should be completed by the end of the year. In a
\ncountry with some five million pensioners receiving the equivalent of some 400
\nEUR every month, the issue of special pensions, which in some cases are ten
\ntimes higher, can produce social and political unrest, while lawmakers are
\ndoing little to remedy such anomalies. Government spokesman Dan C\u0103rbunaru says
\nthat any modifications the government is considering to implement in the
\npension system, including with regard to the retirement age, will not be
\nimplemented abruptly lest they should cause disruptions. As regards the
\nmilestone regarding special pensions the government must fulfill as part of its
\ncommitments at EU level, Dan C\u0103rbunaru said a special task force was created at
\ngovernment level, with Labor Ministry specialists conducting analyses and
\nconsulting with the World Bank. (VP)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dozens of magistrates have submitted the retirement requests<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":84378,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[28968,40705,40704,29669],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-93651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-catalin-predoiu","tag-magistrates-and-prosecutors","tag-retirement-requests","tag-special-pensions"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n