Ilie Bolojan invokes the ECtHR decision in the dispute over the payment of judges' salary arrears

Matei Gaginsky

22 October 2026, 20:36

Current Affairs

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Former Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan says the ruling by the European Court of Human Rights on the staggered payment of magistrates’ overdue salary entitlements confirms his position in the dispute with the High Court of Cassation and Justice. In a post published Thursday evening, the PNL leader called on the government led by Luca Niculescu to resolve the issue of the amounts estimated at approximately 4.8 billion lei.

The ECHR rejected applications submitted by five Romanian judges and former judges, finding that, in the exceptional economic context under review, staggering the payments had not violated the applicants’ rights. The European Court also drew attention to the risk of conflicts of interest in proceedings concerning magistrates’ salary entitlements.

Bolojan described the immediate payment of the amounts as an “immoral” burden on the budget and argued that courts should not set the state’s financial priorities. He also cited the ECHR’s observations regarding potential conflicts of interest.

However, the European ruling does not overturn the final decision ordering the government to ensure funding for payments falling due in 2026. The two cases are distinct: the ECHR examined the possibility of staggering the payments, while the High Court of Cassation and Justice addressed the state’s obligation to comply with the payment schedule.

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Context: before the ECHR decision, the dispute went through the CCR and the HCCJ, with discussions about the state’s obligation and payment methods

Previously, the Constitutional Court rejected Ilie Bolojan’s referral concerning the existence of a legal conflict between the Government and the High Court of Cassation and Justice, while the dispute over the actual payment of magistrates’ outstanding salary claims continued through appeals. In parallel, the HCCJ ruled that the Government and the Ministry of Finance must enforce the outstanding rights established retroactively through court rulings, also mentioning the possibility of direct payment or payment through the issuance of securities.

The PNL leader argued for staggered payment, maintaining that Romania cannot pay, “from one day to the next,” sums generated by more than 20,000 lawsuits, estimating the debts at approximately 10 billion lei and saying that the penalties claimed had reached around two billion lei. He also cited the fact that Romania had allegedly lost 770 million euros from the NRRP due to failing to honor the commitments related to this issue.