The Parliament will be convened in an extraordinary session next week to amend the the special pensions law with the observations of the Constitutional Court.
“Next week we will convene the Parliament in an extraordinary session to amend the Special Pensions Law in accordance with the CCR’s objections. I ask the Minister of Justice to formulate the amendments disputed by the Court regarding the service pensions of the magistrates. It is absolutely necessary that this Law enters into force as quickly as possible so that Romania can access the European money from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. We cannot afford to lose European funds because of special pensions!”, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu posted on Facebook on Thursday.
The amendments to the law on the special pensions of prosecutors and judges did not pass the Constitutional Court. The normative act returns to Parliament for amendment. On Wednesday, the Constitutional Court admitted the referral to the High Court of Cassation and Justice (ÎCCJ) in relation to the changes to the law on service pensions.
“The court held that the recalculation of service pensions in payment affects legal security in the non-retroactivity component of the law. Legal security requires and imposes a protection of the guarantees related to the preservation of the right that was acquired by issuing the retirement decision. The Court also observed that the non-contributory part of the service pension can be part of a separate taxation from its contributory part, subject to its application to all categories of service pension beneficiaries, without distinction. The criticized law thus introduces taxation, but does not clearly establish the basis of taxation, which is contrary to the quality requirements of the law”, said CCR president Marian Enache.
The Minister of Justice, Alina Gorghiu, responded to Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, after he announced that next week he will convene the Parliament in an extraordinary session to amend the Special Pensions Law and asked the Ministry of Justice to formulate the amendments contested by the CCR by then. “It is the attribute of the Parliament to reexamine the law in accordance with the decision of the CCR. The MoJ will formulate proposals that meet the rigors of the CCR, after we see the reasoning in the Official Monitor”.
“Mr. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu publicly addressed the Ministry of Justice with the invitation to “formulate the amendments contested by the CCR regarding the service pensions of the magistrates”. It is the attribute of the Parliament to re-examine the law in accordance with the decision of the CCR. Parliament has the political will to achieve this objective. According to the law, the Government can submit proposals for amendments to the Parliament, through the SGG”, Gorghiu wrote on Facebook.
The minister added that “however, we show our willingness to support the Ministry of Labor with expertise, which is the holder of this reform according to the PNRR”.