Romanian Magistrates To Halt Activity For 3 Hrs Daily As Of Thursday

Calin said the action will continue indefinitely, adding “this form of protest will stop when the Government and Parliament adopt the measures that professional associations find necessary".

Calin said judges’ complaints are not exclusively related to salaries, but also to their huge workload, inconsistent legislation and several aspects that have to do with the fact that Romania keeps losing suites at the European Court of Human Rights. Calin said that, in 95% of the cases Romania loses before the ECHR, lawmakers, and not judges are to blame. He said the National Union of Judges will soon release a survey backing his statement.

Representatives of Romanian magistrates and judges analyzed Wednesday, behind closed doors, the ruling passed by the Bucharest Court of Appeals Tuesday, which suspended the order of the Ministry of Justice that halted the granting of a 50% bonus for mental distress to magistrates and court staff.

Court sessions were halted temporarily over the past two days, in protest to the ministry’s order.