The Judges’ Forum warns: Magistracy risks collapsing

“The combined effects of regulations contained in the provisions adopted in the Parliament on ‘the laws of justice’, although undeclared unconstitutional, may be disastrous for Romanian magistracy,” warns the Romanian Judges’ Forum, the non-profit professional association of judges in Romania, in an analysis released on Thursday.

The main concerns are related to the reduction of the number of magistrates by at least 25%, the de-professionalization of magistrates by renouncing to the merit promotion, stress, to the increasing the volume of activity, but also to the fact that the head of the Judicial Inspectorate and the Special Division for the Investigation of Criminal Offenses within the Prosecutor’s Office upon the High Court for Cassation and Justice (PICCJ) will be able to control the body of magistrates, fidig24.ro informs.

The Judges’ Forum warns that 2,000 magistrates would immediately leave the justice system, and another 2,000 will leave during the next 5 years, due to the lowering of the seniority threshold for service retirement from 25 to 20 yers, without age limit. Among the magistrates who would immediately leave the system are 90% of the judges of the High Court of Cassation and Justice (ICCJ – Supreme Court, our note), the report reads.

The Judges’ Forum in Romania points out that there is no study or punctual analysis conducted by the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM) regarding the amendments adopted by the Parliament on the Laws of Justice and unenforced or not declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR).

The Association of Judges asks Parliament to rethink the proposed and adopted amendments to the Laws of Justice and to publicly debate any changes it intends to bring, as recommended by the European Commission.