Nicușor Dan promulgated the law on magistrates' pensions: “I assure them that their work is respected”

President Nicușor Dan promulgated the law on magistrates' pensions on Friday morning, after the publication in the Official Gazette of the decision of the Constitutional Court, he announced on his Facebook account.

“The recalibration of the way these pensions are calculated is a gesture of equity, expected by our society. Citizens' trust in the state is regained when the reforms expected by society become reality”, Nicușor Dan wrote in the post.

“I assure the magistrates that their work is respected and their importance in the architecture of the state is fully recognized. I will support the legislative and administrative measures required by the professional body to optimize the conditions in which they operate,” he added.

The decision of the Constitutional Court regarding the law reforming the special pensions of magistrates was officially published on Thursday on the CCR website, and soon after it also appeared in the Official Gazette.

• The CCR decision regarding the constitutionality of the law, which also establishes that the pension of a former magistrate cannot be higher than 70% of the last net salary received, was taken on February 18, with 6 votes to 3, after the Supreme Court led by judge Lia Savonea challenged the law in December of last year.
• The law also gradually increases the retirement age of magistrates until it reaches 65 (within 15 years of the law coming into force)

CCR's reasoning: The High Court does not have the “competence” to verify the appropriateness of the policies promoted by the Government

The CCR states in the reasons for the decision that “it does not have the competence to examine the appropriateness of initiating a legislative approach, nor to quantify the budgetary impact of the legislative measures promoted or that should be promoted”.

“Also, the Constitutional Court does not have the competence to establish the legislative measures that must be promoted. As such, the Court cannot control the calculations of a financial nature presented by the Government in the statement of reasons for the law or in the point of view formulated, nor does it have the competence to verify the appropriateness of the various public policies promoted, just as the High Court of Cassation and Justice cannot arrogate this prerogative”, according to the CCR.

CCR: “Service pension is not eliminated for any category”

The CCR established that it cannot “make the reform carried out regarding the service pensions in the field of justice conditional on the reform of the service pensions of other categories of personnel”, because it is “the exclusive decision of the Government/Parliament, as the case may be, to establish the opportunity and the moment when these reforms will be carried out, regardless of the date from which they will produce their effects”.

The future generations of magistrates who will retire “will be able to choose between the service pension established by the criticized law and the contributory pension from the general public pension system in accordance with art. 211 paragraph (6) of Law no. 303/2022”: “As such, as the Court has already established, the service pension is not eliminated for any category of staff in the justice system”.

The Constitutional Court established that “neither the Constitution nor any international legal instrument provides for the amount of pension that different categories of people must benefit from”:

“This is established by national legislation. Under these conditions, the legislator can also provide for a minimum limit of the amount of the pension, as well as its maximum ceiling. The right to the respect of assets cannot be understood in the sense that it entitles a person to a pension in a certain amount. Also, the amount of the pension represents an asset only to the extent that it has become payable”.