Constitutional Court Delays Ruling On Bill Adding Ombudsman Special Pension

The bill provides ombudsmen with a special pension upon retirement, similar to that earned by Constitutional judges.

President Iohannis filed the challenge on November 12, 2018. The Romanian head of state argues in his challenge that the office of Ombudsamn has the same rank as that of a minister, who do not benefit from any type of special pensions.

He added that the bill was unclear on whether ombudsmen who lost the office after being dismissed for violating the Constitution or legal provisions would still benefit from the pension, which equal to 80% of the offices’ gross wage.

Iohannis also criticized other provisions which stated that the pension will be subject to the same revisions which will be applied to the similar benefits received by retired constitutional judges.

The bill was controversially passed by the Romanian Senate on October 15, days after a criticized judicial emergency decree was passed by the Government. While opposition parties urged him to challenge the decree at the Constitutional Court, as the sole authority capable of challengin a government decree, current ombudsman Victor Ciorbea announced that he was on rest leave, and did not delegate his powers for the duration of the holiday. Government critics have since suggested that the special pension bill was used as a leverage to ensure that the ombudsman will not challenge the judicial decree.