Doctors and staff in forensic institutes and services across the country will stage a protest on Thursday against the chronic underfunding of the system, the Romanian Forensic Doctors' Union said in a press release.
"This protest is a warning signal about a reality systematically ignored by decision-makers: forensic expertise is indispensable to the act of justice. Without forensic examinations, criminal investigations stall, trials are delayed, and citizens' rights - both of victims and defendants - are seriously affected," the union stated.
Union representatives argue that by chronically underfunding and excluding the forensic system from budgetary priorities, authorities are not reducing administrative costs but instead obstructing the justice system itself. Forensic medicine, they stressed, is not a marginal administrative expense but an essential component of evidentiary procedure without which justice cannot be delivered.
The union denounces what it calls unfair and deeply disadvantageous provisions in Government Emergency Ordinance No. 7/2026, citing discriminatory financing and pay rules for forensic medicine compared with other medical specialties - and even within the forensic network itself.
Staff also argue that the draft unified wage law fails to reflect the specific nature, risks, responsibilities, incompatibilities and indispensable role of forensic work. They criticise the absence of an individualised and accurate evaluation of the specialty, which sits at the intersection of the health and justice systems, as well as institutional neglect and the lack of any response to repeated appeals to decision-makers.
Another grievance is the chronic underfunding of forensic institutes and services, combined with pressure to deliver results in increasingly shorter timeframes despite insufficient resources.
"We call on Parliament, the government and the Health Ministry to open a genuine dialogue, urgently correct the discriminatory provisions of OUG No. 7/2026 and the draft wage law, and ensure funding that allows the forensic network to fulfil its constitutional role in serving justice and the health system. Continued disregard for these issues will inevitably degrade the quality and timeliness of justice, to the detriment of all citizens," the union said.
The protest will take place Thursday between 10:00 and 12:00 inside forensic institutions. During this period, only medico-legal services classified as urgent judicial cases will be provided.
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