Romanian president Nicușor Dan has promulgated the law reforming the pension system for magistrates one day after the Constitutional Court’s reasoning was published in the Official Gazette, despite repeated appeals from judges to send the bill back to Parliament for reconsideration. The president described the changes as “a gesture of fairness, awaited by society.”

President Dan announced Friday morning, February 27, that he had signed the law following the official publication of the Constitutional Court’s decision. He had a ten-day deadline to promulgate the legislation.

“Recalibrating the method for calculating these pensions is a gesture of fairness, awaited by our society. Citizens’ trust in the state is regained when the reforms expected by society become reality,” Nicușor Dan said.

“I assure magistrates that their work is respected and their importance within the state’s institutional architecture is fully recognized. I will support the legislative and administrative measures requested by the professional body to optimize the conditions in which they carry out their activity,” he added.

The Constitutional Court’s decision on the law reforming special pensions for magistrates was published on Thursday on the court’s website and subsequently in the Official Gazette, clearing the final procedural hurdle before promulgation.

Under the new legislation, the retirement age for magistrates will gradually increase from 48 to 65 over a 15-year period, and pension benefits will be reduced to 70% of net salary.

In recent weeks, several Courts of Appeal had urged the president not to sign the bill and instead request Parliament to reexamine it, Biziday.ro reported. They argued that the law violates the principle of non-retroactivity and European standards on judicial independence, claiming that magistrates are clearly discriminated against compared with other categories of public officials.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Facebook/Nicușor Dan)