The Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) harshly criticised the draft law on the uniform remuneration of personnel paid from public funds (the Wage Law) published by the Labour Ministry for debate, claiming that its provisions “will definitively undermine the functioning of justice”. The law, under construction at the Labour Ministry since 2021, under the Social Democrats’ control over the entire period, is a milestone under the Resilience Facility with a grant of over EUR 700 million attached. 

“The provisions of the draft law, through their concrete content and the effects they will produce regarding the salary and salary-related rights of magistrates, undermine the constitutional position of the judiciary as a power in the Romanian state, and not only its financial independence,” the CSM release reads, as quoted by Digi24.

The Council explained that a magistrate who is promoted to a higher-level court or prosecutor's office, or personnel who enter a higher seniority stage, may see their incomes decrease.

The interim minister of labour, Dragoş Pîslaru, stated on May 25 that judges, based on assimilations and interpretations and court decisions, have increased their salaries far above decent levels. By the new Wage Law, the salary without bonuses will remain at the same level, but artificial bonuses will be eliminated. The average wage received by a judge, including the bonuses, will decrease by some 16%, he admitted.

Magistrates’ criticism comes after the trade unions, traditionally aligned with the Social Democrats, in the Police and Health sectors, announced rallies to protest the Law. 

The Presidency announced a broad agreement among the partners in the former ruling coalition on key national priorities, including the Wage Law. 

The magistrates' council, in turn, claimed that the income of a magistrate who will enter the profession after the adoption of the law “will be at an absolutely unacceptable level” and that magistrates will lose income if they are promoted to a higher court or prosecutor’s office.

The CSM announced that it will use all legal instruments “to safeguard the authority of the judiciary”.

“It is outside the constitutional balance between the powers of the state for a draft law to be based on the Executive's assessment of the legality and soundness of final court decisions, pronounced regarding the salary rights of magistrates,” CSM argued, pointing to the multitude of special bonuses awarded to magistrates by court rulings and not by government decision. 

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)