BUCHAREST, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Romania's Constitutional Court on Wednesday upheld a government law raising the retirement age for judges and prosecutors and capping their pensions.
The draft law, introduced by Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan's coalition government, gradually increases the retirement age for magistrates to 65 over the next 15 years, up from around 50 at present, and limits service pensions to no more than 70 percent of the net salary received in the final month of service.
In a majority ruling delivered after five postponements, the court rejected a constitutional challenge filed by the High Court of Cassation and Justice against the legislation. It also dismissed as inadmissible requests to refer preliminary questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
President Nicusor Dan welcomed the ruling, describing the recalculation of magistrates' pensions as "a gesture of fairness" long awaited by society, while emphasizing that the work of judges and prosecutors remains respected and vital to the state.
President of the Senate Mircea Abrudean said the decision confirms the government's determination to eliminate what he called unjustified privileges and restore fiscal balance, crediting the prime minister with advancing reforms that previous administrations had postponed.
However, the Superior Council of Magistracy, the central body responsible for regulating the judicial profession, warned that the new framework could have serious consequences for the judiciary.
In a statement, the council said raising the retirement age again and modifying service pension rules could accelerate departures from the system and make the profession less attractive to younger lawyers, at a time of existing shortages and heavy caseloads.
It added that the highly restrictive rules governing magistrates' incompatibilities should be reviewed, arguing that removing service pensions would weaken effective guarantees of judicial independence.
The government first sought to amend judicial pensions last year to meet milestones required to access European Union recovery and resilience funds. The Constitutional Court struck down the earlier bill on technical grounds in October last year, prompting the government to submit a revised draft that has now been declared constitutional. ■