Romanian judges and prosecutors to protest planned special pension reform

Judges and prosecutors from several courts and prosecutor's offices across Romania, including Bucharest, announced that they would suspend their activity as a sign of protest against the planned changes to the special pension legislation.

Among them, the Bucharest Court of Appeal and the Bucharest Tribunal, the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA), as well as several Prosecutor's Offices, which said that, as of Wednesday, they would only act on urgent cases, Digi24 reported.

The project to amend the special pension law is to be voted on next week in the plenary of the Chamber of Deputies, according to Euronews.ro.

The new minister of justice, Alina Gorghiu, reacted to the announced protests, saying the ministry she leads respects the right to free expression but "starts from the premise that dialogue is the solution to solving any problem of the judicial system, not the protest."

"The principle according to which no pension can exceed the salary is a moral one. Romanian society is waiting for this reform of service pensions," reads the Ministry of Justice's press release, quoted by Digi24.

Labour minister Marius Budai said on Monday, regarding the law on special pensions, that the last option is a 15% tax on what exceeds the average net salary.

The project on service pensions represents a milestone within the Recovery and Resilience Facility (PNRR).

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