Magistrates with several courts and
\nprosecutor’s offices in Romania on Wednesday ceased work as the imminent amendments
\nto the pension legislation could affect the independence of the judiciary. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Under these circumstances, only the
\nurgent criminal cases such as international kidnapping, placement and
\ninvestment, adoptions, public custody, protection orders will be judged. The Superior
\nCouncil of the Magistrates (CSM) has announced it has been notified and
\nunconditionally supports the position expressed by the magistrates, as this
\nsituation of severe gravity is fundamentally bearing on the independence of the
\njudiciary and the statute of the magistrates with direct consequences upon the
\nact of justice. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The highest representatives of the legal
\nsystem, CSM recalls, had a meeting with the representatives of the executive
\nand legislative power whom they briefed upon the impact of the legislative
\namendments over the justice system, which is already being confronted with an
\nacute shortage of personnel against the ongoing uncertainty regarding the
\nstatute of the professionals in the field. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
On the other hand, the CSM says it
\ndoes not stand against the pension reform and is concerned with finding the
\nbest normative solutions aimed at streamlining this process.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The country’s new Justice Minister, Alina
\nGorghiu, has reacted to the radical measure the magistrates resorted to, saying
\nthat she respects their right to free speech. She also said that dialogue is
\nthe solution to any problem facing the legal system not the protest. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The principle according to which no
\npension can exceed the salary is a moral one and the Romanian society has been
\nwaiting for this pension reform to be implemented, Alina Gorghiu says. The
\npension reform, which is only to a small extent based on the contribution made
\nduring the period of activity, and which the magistrates mainly benefit as well
\nas other professional categories, is a landmark in the country’s Plan of Recovery
\nand Resilience. Romania’s failure to comply with the provisions of the
\naforementioned plan, would be tantamount to losing 3 billion Euros. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The PSD – PNL ruling coalition wants
\nto gradually increase the retirement age for prosecutors and justices up to 65
\nyears and the pensions to be calculated based on the incomes along the years
\nnot in the last year of activity. The reform in the field would also mean higher
\ntaxes for the pensions above a certain level as well as the elimination of the public
\nservice pensions for a series of auxiliary categories such as the specialized personnel
\naround the judges and prosecutors, the personnel with specific executive
\npositions within the diplomatic missions as well as the personnel around the
\npublic Parliament servants. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The number of the beneficiaries of
\npublic service pensions in May this year exceeded 10 thousand, half of them
\nbeing magistrates. And in their case, the average pension exceeds 4,000 Euros, the
\nlargest part of which being funded from the state budget. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
(bill)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Disgruntled by the way their pensions may look like in the future, Romanias judges and prosecutors have ceased work<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":82962,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[31145,36427,29871,32766,32366,30162,40914],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-96073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-csm","tag-gorghiu","tag-justice","tag-magistrates","tag-pensions","tag-reform","tag-service"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n