Romania's High Court of Justice decided on Wednesday that the Romanian government has to pay bonus payments to magistrates, thus rejecting appeals of the Finance Ministry against previous such decisions. The Ministry had lost the cases in this regard with three other magistracy bodies.
A governmental decision to withdraw a 50% bonus pay for stressful working conditions has sparked outrage among magistrates across the country.
The decision, which as authorities explained was motivated by lack of funds, was followed by protests and a series of court cases between the Finance Ministry and various judicial organizations. The dispute led to a Bucharest Appeals Court decision last Monday to fine Finance ministry Gheorghe Pogea with 20% of the gross minimum salary for each day of delay in paying the 50% bonuses.
