Thousands of prosecutors and judges are protesting changes to the law on special pensions, while the courts are blocked and the Supreme Council of Magistrates (VSC) provides new clarifications.

The CSM is asking for a number of changes to the draft adopted by the Coalition, which aims at new retirement conditions for magistrates.

What the magistrates do NOT agree with

The CSM press release states that the judiciary agrees with the legislative decision that the maximum pension level should not exceed the salary of a sitting magistrate, and with the establishment of a threshold of 25 years of service.

Masters say they also agree with setting a retirement age, but they ask for a transition period. This, they argue, “will ensure the legitimate confidence of judicial professionals who began their careers under a different legal framework.” “Therefore, it is necessary that legislative norms regulate the real way of gradually increasing the retirement age, over a reasonable period of time, so that not to create discriminatory situations between professionals with the same experience in the judicial system, but with different biological ages”it is stated in the message of the Central Committee.

Also, according to CSM, “it is necessary that legislative decision to provide a mechanism for early retirement, with penalization of the amount of pension rights that currently exists in the legislation governing the state pension system.” “It is fair that such an opportunity is also provided for justices of the peace, especially given the fact that, according to the draft law, the retirement age should be significantly increased,” the quoted source said.

“We understand that all these proposals are necessary for the proper functioning of the judicial system and to ensure quality justice, given that the achievement of justice is not only a desire, but a constant concern that requires the responsible performance of this public service for the benefit of the participant in the judicial process,” – the message also states.

How the Coalition wants to change the rules: new retirement conditions

According to the current legislation, magistrates can retire regardless of age if they have 25 years of experience. They receive a pension for years of service in the amount of 80% of the calculation base, represented by the monthly gross additional payment for employment and allowances for the last month of activity before the date of retirement.

Under the amendments passed by the ruling coalition, the rules are now changing.

Next year, the retirement age will be gradually increased: from 50 years in 2024 to 60 years in 2035.

In addition, the seniority pension will be 80% of the calculation base, represented by the average gross amount of service allowances and permanent allowances relating to any 12 consecutive months in the last 10 years of activity before the date of retirement.

At the same time, taxation of 15% of the amount exceeding the average net salary is proposed.

“Until now, a tax of 30% has been proposed, which exceeds the average gross salary in a known economy and is used to form the state social insurance budget. The last option is with 15%, but with a lower threshold, namely at the level of the net average salary, not the gross one,” said Minister of Labor Marius Budai recently.

There are 5,252 retired judges in Romania, and the average pension for years of service is 21,555 lei, of which 19,902 lei comes from the state budget share and 5,101 lei from the state social insurance budget.

The Minister of Justice promises a “balanced decision”

Justice Minister Alina Gorgiou said on Wednesday that the reform of special pensions will continue and the law will be voted on by parliament next week.

“I guarantee you that we will find a balanced solution so that we have this regulation of pension service settled once and for all. The legislation is based on a principle that has outraged the whole society, namely that no retirement pension can exceed the income received during the period of payment of contributions. In short, no pension can be higher than the salary,” she said.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Marcel Çolaku held a discussion in the government with the leadership of the CSM, the meeting was also attended by the Minister of Justice Alina Gorghiu and Nicolae Chuke.

At the end of the meeting, the Supreme Council of Magistrates conveyed, regarding the “inevitable modification” of the special pension system, that it definitely supports the position expressed by the magistrates at the general meeting, in the sense that “this situation is of particular seriousness and causes significant damage to the independence of the judiciary and the status of magistrates with direct consequences for the administration of justice”.

Asked about the magistrates’ protest, Alina Gorgiou said on Wednesday that there were several reasons that led to this suspension action.

“Part of that is due to the phasing, indeed the pension age may be an issue that the magistrates are still contesting, but the discussions have been within the parameters that I am telling you now, which is that no pension can exceed salary, no new categories special pensions will be created, and special pensions will be calculated on the basis of the principle of contributions,” Gorgiu also noted.

On the continuation of the protests, Alina Gorghiu said: “We are telling you what we will do at the coalition level, at the government level and at the parliament level. Next week will be a week of fire in Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies will vote on this law, which is an important milestone and responsibility in PNRR.”

The reform of special pensions is an important milestone in the PNRR, Romania risks losing more than €3 billion from the EU if it does not.

Beneficiaries of special pensions – official and military – are about 190,000 people, the main part of which is military pensions – almost 180,000 – which include the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Education, Research Institute, Institute of Education, and Department of Social Security.