Ilie Bolojan supports the draft law on the pensions of the magistrates: “We can no longer retire the magistrates at 47, at 50”

Interim president Ilie Bolojan believes that magistrates should not retire at 47 or 50, when, he says, they are at the maturity of the professional age.

“I, without any populist temptation, said it since last year: we can no longer retire the magistrates at 47, at 50, when they are at the maturity of the professional age and after which this experience in the public service could be used,” said Bolojan, at the “Friendly Fire” podcast, made by Moses.

“It is not just a problem of the fact that the level of a pension is not justified with the years of work, it is a quality and reliable problem in the justice system, because, the more quality, more predictable, which respect the species – in identical species, at different courts you have the same sentences – that means that you have a preaching.

The interim president stressed that “one is to work on the value of the pension and another is to work at the retirement age”.

“They are different aspects, they are simply normal,” Bolojan added.

On Tuesday, a draft law on the pensions of the magistrates, initiated by the leaders of the ruling coalition, was submitted to Parliament.

The proposed normative act stipulates that, starting with January 1, 2026, the judges, the prosecutors, the judges of the Constitutional Court, the assistant magistrates from the High Court of Cassation and Justice and from the CCR, as well as the legal specialized personnel can be retired and can benefit from the service pension if they fulfill the condition for a minimum of 25 years 48 years.

At the same time, the project provides to reach the age of 65 years for retirement for magistrates in 2045.

At the moment, prosecutors and judges can retire regardless of age, if they are 25 years old.

Regarding the pensions of the magistrates, a major provision is the decrease of the calculation ceiling from 80%, as it is currently, to 65% of the average monthly income before the retirement. This is to reduce the gap between “service pensions and state social insurance pensions”, according to the project.

“For the specialized auxiliary staff of the courts and the prosecutor's offices, the draft law aims to adjust the percentage underlying the amount of service pensions (n. Red. State ”, writes in the project.

The leaders of the CSM, the High Court and the General Prosecutor's Office announced that they want to meet with the leaders of the ruling coalition on Thursday, April 10, on the topic of this legislative project.

“Considering the principle of loyal cooperation that must govern the relations between the public authorities, any discussion regarding the status of the magistrates must involve the representatives of the judicial system, a context in which we express our entire availability for an authentic and honest dialogue, under conditions of institutional transparency. We ask you to communicate in time,” The president of the SCM, Elena Costache, the president of the High Court of Cassation and Justice, Corina Alina Corbu, and the Attorney General of Romania, Alex Florence.

The Superior Council of Magistracy had a first reaction on this topic on Tuesday, when he pointed out that the magistrates were not consulted by the inaters of the draft law.

Crin Antonescu said Monday that magistrates have to retire at 65, like all other citizens of the country.

The draft law was submitted to the Parliament after the candidate of the Presidential Governance Coalition, Crin Antonescu, requested this on Monday, in a meeting, to the leaders of PSD, PNL, UDMR and national minorities.