Romanian Constitutional Court to rule on judges' billions‑euro salary arrears

On Thursday the Constitutional Court (CCR) will consider a petition submitted by interim Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan that seeks a constitutional resolution of a dispute with the High Court of Cassation and Justice over the payment of salary arrears owed to magistrates. The government argues the High Court has exceeded its competence by intervening in budgetary matters and warns that the decision could disrupt the national budget balance.

The High Court previously ordered the government and the Ministry of Finance to pay roughly 4.8 billion lei (about €9 million) plus daily penalties of 1 % for delayed payments. Bolojan said, "the court perturbs directly the national budget balance" and warned that a ruling in favour of the judges could force the state to pay up to €1 billion in arrears, with severe fiscal consequences.