Taking advantage of the purgatory that is winter break for functionaries, shall we say, Romania’s constitutional court has decided — for a third time — to postpone the decision regarding magistrate reforms and special pensions for these.
Talks have been ongoing since the beginning of December, but judges have failed to show up to meetings time and time again. Specifically, four magistrates from the PSD (Social-Democrat) party have been boycotting sessions: Cristian Deliorga, Gheorghe Stan, Bogdan Licu and Mihai Busuioc.
According to the Court’s president, Simina Tănăsescu, current legislation does allow for the interruption of deliberation — that is, if it is justified by a need for closer inspection into matters.
Meanwhile, the boycotters accuse Tănăsescu of having rejected their attempts to reschedule to begin with. But really, magistrates argue that the law itself discriminates against magistrates in comparison with other civil servants, and violates judicial independence, while including constitutional concerns like rule of law and retroactivity.
In general, Romania is tightening its budget now to address a large deficit and attempt to stabilize by certain austerity measures.
The first version of the magistrates’ pension reform was ruled unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court on 20 October 2025. The Court upheld the referral from the Înalta Curte de Casație și Justiție, noting that the government failed to wait the legally required period to seek the opinion of the Consiliul Superior al Magistraturii, even though it is only consultative.
What is this all about? A law contested at the Constitutional Court by the ICCJ Court of Justice, which should have passed at the beginning of 2026.
The new bill proposes that the age of retirement for judges and prosecutors be gradually raised in the next fifteen years to 65 (they can now retire as early as 48!) or whenever they have 35 years of work experience instead of 25, and that pensions can no longer be great than the net income they had while actually working. Instead, it would stand at around 70% of a salary. Some minor nuts and bolts were also fine-tuned.
The current government argues that these changes are necessary for greater social equity in a burnt-out Romania, in which magistrate pensions soar beyond the norm for pensioners. Surprisingly or disappointingly, public protests have been faint (despite an initial reaction to the Recorder documentary which highlighted the problem publicly), but this is being pushed now in light of budgetary pressures — as well as certain EU conventions, as the EU has scrutinized these aspects and has demanded that Romania make alterations.
Romanian president calls referendum among magistrates after street protests against the judiciary
