CSM asks for appropriate phased application of amendments to magistrates' pensions.
The Supreme Council of the Magistracy (CSM) on Tuesday sent a letter to the European Commission in connection with a bill on the state pensions of magistrates in which it says that the judiciary "understands and supports" the legislative initiatives designed to iron out inequities within the system, provided that the legal provisions considered establish a transition period or an appropriate phased application, told Agerpres.
In its letter, CSM voices concern over the amending of the bill, "that runs against both the recommendations made within the rule of law mechanism and the objectives established by the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism, with the aim of guaranteeing the independence of the judiciary, increasing its quality and efficiency."
CSM says that the aforementioned legislative changes will modify the justice legislation passed in December 2022, which, in itself, was a target in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) that was thus fulfilled.
"The PNRR expressly decided not to include magistrates' pensions in the category to be modified, in accordance with the obligation to respect the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Romania. In addition, the recently adopted laws were appreciated in the last Co-operation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) report and also represent an essential element in the report on the rule of law, respecting the guarantees requested by the EC in terms of ensuring the stability and irreversibility of the reforms."
CSM adds that the legislative process took place in violation of the principle of loyal co-operation between the institutions involved and with a lack of transparency, adding that although it approved the bill submitted by the government and adopted by the Senate, the current version, as it was modified before the committees of the Chamber of Deputies, has a totally different form and introduces new conditions that were not subject to debate and in relation to which CSM has not issued an opinion.
"The judiciary understands and supports the legislative initiative designed to iron out inequities within the system and past slippages generated by the lack of legislative harmonisation that leads to a disproportionate amount of pensions in specific cases, provided that the legal provisions considered establish a period of transition or an appropriate staged application," reads the CSM letter.
Therefore, CSM says that it is "imperative" to rethink a phased method proposed by establishing rational intervals for the application of the new provisions, so that the increase in the retirement age - by a minimum of 12 years - is done gradually, over a long period, longer than the proposed one, without affecting the legitimate hope of the beneficiaries and without creating discriminatory situations between professionals with similar job seniority in the judiciary, but with different biological ages.
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