The CSM notified the General Prosecutor's Office for public inciting against the magistrates. The institution claims online posts in which judges are threatened with physical and sexual violence

The Superior Council of Magistracy announced on Wednesday that he asked the Prosecutor's Office to do investigations on several public messages through which users of social networks have instigated serious offenses against magistrates and members of their families.

The complaint submitted to the Prosecutor's Office is aimed at the offense of public instigation provided by art. 368 of the Criminal Code. It provides: “the act of urging the public, verbally, in writing or by any other means, to commit offenses is punished by imprisonment from 3 months to 3 years or with a fine, without being able to overcome the punishment provided by law for the offense to the commission of which it was instigated.”

In a press release sent on Wednesday, the Superior Council of Magistracy signs that in the public space “explicit instigations have been identified to physical and sexual violence and pedophilic facts against family members.” At the same time, similar reactions have been identified from other natural persons, users of social networks, including following the transmission of private messages to magistrates, the institution also accuses.

“The defamation campaign is maintained by the political factor”

The campaign to misinform the citizens and to defam the body of the magistrates continues and is maintained by the political factor, accuses the SCM, who claims that Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan presents to the public erroneous information about the salaries of the magistrates and their retirement.

“Ilie Bolojan recently stated, again, that the salaries of the magistrates are in the amount of 4000 – 5000 euros net/month, and the magistrates retire at 48 – 49 years in Romania. The net salary of a judge at the court or prosecutor at the Prosecutor's Office attached to the court is located in the range 6990 lei/net for a trainee, 10.48 After 20 years old in office, up to 16,157 lei/net for the court or at the Prosecutor's Office attached to the Court.

The remuneration of the judges with the degree of court and of the prosecutors from the prosecutor's offices next to the court is superior to the one at the level of the courts, and that of the judges with a court of appeal or the prosecutors from the prosecutor's offices next to the courts of appeal is 13% superior to the one at the Court level ”, says the SCM.

Regarding the service pension, the SCM states that in Romania there are over 215,000 service pensions today, of which only around 5000 are those of the magistrates, ie 4% of the total service pensions.

CSM also reminds that by Law no. 282/2023 corrected the anomalies regarding the service pension, so that the service pension established according to this normative act no longer exceeds the net salary.

“Contrary to those stated constantly and unreal in the public space, in the first part of 2025, the average retirement age is kept in judges at 52 years, compared to the maximum legislative stability period when, at the level of 2010-2011, the average retirement age was over 58 years. Regarding the average retirement age for prosecutors, this is already present, About 55 years between 2010-2025, for judges being about 56 years in the same time.

The SCM also says that “it has already drawn attention to the escalation of hostile public attitudes towards judges and prosecutors” and that “all these actions of the other powers in the state and of the media generate risks that affect the independence of justice and seriously destabilizes the judicial system, directly affecting the fundamental rights and freedoms of the citizens”.

How the Government has changed the Special Pension System

The modification of the special pension system in the judiciary is one of the five projects in the package 2 of fiscal measures for which the Government assumed Monday in Parliament.

The project on the pensions of the magistrates remained unchanged compared to the version placed in public debate on August 14, which aroused harsh reactions and protests from the magistrates, which triggered the protests by suspending the activity.

If the project passes the Constitutional Court, it will enter into force from October 1, 2025.

By 2036, there are transient norms – the magistrates will be added, gradually, every year, one year and six more months at the retirement age, ie it will increase gradually. From 2036, the retirement age will be at 65.

The project on magistrate's pensions changes includes the following changes:

• Establishing the retirement age for magistrates at the standard age of the public pension system, respectively 65 years.
• To retire the magistrates will have to be 35 years old. Now, magistrates can retire if they are 25 years old.
• The pension of the magistrates will not be able to be more than 70% of the last net salary collected. Now, it is 80% of the last gross salary collected.
• For the magistrates who are currently in office: the new staggering of the increase of the retirement age for magistrates, by adding an additional period of 1 year and 6 months, until 2036.

Magistrates will be able to retire in advance, provided they are 35 years old, but if they are not 65 years old, an annual penalty “2% until the standard retirement age in the public system” will be applied.

The project has generated harsh reactions in the judicial system and led to the triggering of protest actions in courts and prosecutor's offices throughout the country.