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President of the High Court of Cassation and Justice Corina Corbu on Thursday had a meeting with Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu in respect to the protests in the judiciary, during which it was agreed to remove from the Government Emergency Ordinance the article that spaced out the payment of outstanding salary rights for magistrates, clerks and auxiliary staff.
"As a continuation of the efforts to solve the crisis situation in the justice system, which had been previously attended by the Minister of Justice and the Prosecutor General of Romania, who are today on a foreign trip, as well as the Chief Prosecutor with the National Anti-corruption Directorate, the President of the High Court of Cassation and Justice, Judge Corina Corbu, had a meeting with the Prime Minister of Romania, Marcel Ciolacu, on 14 December 2023, at 11.30 a.m.," the Supreme Court announced in a press release.
At the meeting the following was agreed on:
*the deletion of Article VIII of the draft Emergency Ordinance on some fiscal-budgetary measures in the area of public expenditure, for fiscal consolidation, combating tax evasion, for amending and supplementing some normative acts;
* during the month of December the salary differences for November 2023 will be paid;
*payment of the instalment for 2023 for the outstanding titles on outstanding salary rights;
*provision of financial resources for the full payment of the salary rights regulated according to the normative framework in force, for the year 2024, for the categories of staff of the courts and public prosecutor's offices, as well as for those of the National Probation Directorate;
* to analyse the legislative options for ensuring a fair and predictable salary system in the judiciary.
"The dialogue held was based on the premise of the proper functioning of the rule of law, which requires the cooperation of all powers of the state, which must be manifested in the spirit of the rules of constitutional loyalty, especially when fundamental principles of democracy are at stake," the Supreme Court added.
The decision comes after several courts in the country have announced that they are suspending their work, and the clerks have taken to the streets, the justice staff being dissatisfied that the "Train Ordinance" in Article VIII provides spacing out over a seven year period the payment of some salary rights, won under final court decisions and administrative acts.
