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Alexandru Nazare proposes staggering payments to magistrates to protect the state budget

Gabriel Dumitrache

30 October 2026, 14:30

Current Affairs

Inquam / George Calin

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Alexandru Nazare stated on Friday that payment of the salary arrears owed to magistrates under final court rulings should be staggered, in order to avoid destabilizing the state budget. He specified that the solution must be identified through dialogue, as soon as possible, at the prime ministerial level.

The statement comes after the High Court of Cassation and Justice definitively rejected the appeals filed by the Government, the Ministry of Finance, and certain intervening parties in a case concerning the payment of magistrates’ outstanding salary entitlements. The court also rejected the Executive’s request to refer the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

According to the ruling of the Bucharest Court of Appeal, upheld by the High Court, payment must be made within 10 days. Otherwise, the Government could be ordered to pay penalties of 1% per day. The amount mentioned in the case is 5.2 billion lei, while some estimates indicate a total debt of more than two billion euros owed to the judicial system. The arrears have been rescheduled in recent years by previous governments.

Context: The case concerning outstanding salary payments for magistrates has undergone multiple postponements at the HCCJ, and the court has already indicated possible payment methods

Before the final decision mentioned later, the High Court of Cassation and Justice repeatedly postponed delivering its ruling in the case against the Government and the Ministry of Finance concerning the payment of outstanding salary entitlements owed to magistrates, with approximately 5 billion lei (around one billion euros) at stake. The dispute was at the appeal stage, after the appellate court ordered the executive to pay the amounts, including through a budget rectification.

At the same time, after a procedural hearing, the HCCJ stated that payment could be made either directly or through the issuance of securities with a later maturity date. Court representatives indicated that, for some older debts, ancillary amounts have reached almost 68% of the principal and continue to grow, while the HCCJ described the Government's conduct as „ostentatious”, also invoking a „campaign of hatred” attributed to propaganda affiliated with the executive.