Romanian judges have come under fire after lawmakers which appoint them passed a law that allows them new privileges—money in lieu of annual leave and a raft of other perks.
Twelve employees of the Constitutional Court (CCR), Romania’s top court, didn’t take their legally-allowed annual leave in 2022 and were handsomely compensated a legal option denied to the rest of Romanians, the Presshub outlet reported.
According to the court, one of its judges, Gheorghe Stan, received 59,823 lei in 2023_about 12,000 euros_ simply because he did not take annual vacation days he was entitled to in 2023. Judges and court employees already get 10 days more leave than the legally required time.
„We are not talking about small change for a beer and a shawarma or a mic (Romanian sausage), but about enormous sums of money for the average Romanian. Moreover, judges who do not take all the 35 days of leave to which they are legally entitled again receive money in compensation, which can reach up to 12,000 euros per year,” former Justice Minister Ana Birchall told Universul.net.
Presshub asked the CCR how many employees requested compensation after the law was passed, how much was paid, and what was the legal basis for the compensation.
“In December 2023, 12 employees of the Court were paid a total of 368,274 lei gross for leave not taken in 2022 based on art.90 of Law no.361/2023 referring to employees of Constitutional Court”, the CCR’s legal department said.
One dozen employees received, on average of 30,600 lei in lieu of vacation they did not take in 2022, the site reported.
Mrs Birchall who is running for president in Nov.2024 elections on a ticket of reforming the justice system said:
“Who are these people who are being rewarded to relax on our money, receiving salary rights, settlements and facilities that the average Romanian cannot not even dream of?”
The former justice minister called the Constitutional Court “the political hammer ..the (government) uses to definitively rule on a situation, of course, to the advantage of those (Eds: lawmakers) who sent the judges to the CCR for a lot of money,” suggesting corruption in the appointment process.
“When I was justice minister, I said 1,000 times that the Constitutional Court needs to be reformed, that it is not normal to have a politically-appointed judicial elite, which is paid royally, and makes legal decisions based on political orders,” she added.
Romania’s Labor Code, article 146, paragraph 4 only allows for monetary compensation for unused vacation when somebody leaves their job.
Judge Stan, who received the highest level of compensation in 2023 received compensation even though he hadn’t terminated his contract.
Presshub reported that the CCR Personnel Law, adopted in December 2023, provides for a legal exception in the case of judges, provisional Law no. 53/2003 – Labour Code, republished, which refers to “own rules on the duration, conduct and compensation of the leaves of judges and staff of the Constitutional Court”, the document shows.
In other words, CCR employees are not subject to the Labor Code, and are exempted by another law, according to the document_ 10 days more than other Romanian employees .
According to the law “Judges of the Constitutional Court and its staff also benefit from a holiday allowance, which may not, in any case, be less than the basic salary, allowances and permanent basic bonuses due for the respective period”.
“The holiday allowance is paid at least 5 days before the date of going on leave” and “when going on leave, the judges of the Constitutional Court and its staff benefit from a holiday bonus, provided by the law”.
Another provision of the respective regulation shows that “exceptionally, the monetary compensation of the leave not taken by the end of the year may be granted to the staff, under the conditions of art.41 para. (1) of Law no. 7/2006 on the status of the parliamentary civil servant”.
This means that the CCR judges and the staff of their offices have the same rights as lawmakers. In the case of lawmakers the law says: “leave not taken by the end of the year for reasons related to the exercise of service duties or for other objective reasons, according to the regulation, shall be compensated in money”.
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