Bucharest magistrates suspend most of the judicial activities starting on Monday. The Unique Income Scheme will cut 60% off their earnings, they claim

Magistrates from Bucharest Tribunal and Court of Appeal will suspend their activity starting on Monday. They will work only on the cases addressing expiring preventive arrest and civil cases involving housing children. Additionally, the judges will refuse to designate electoral offices, and the auxiliary staff will cease any public relation. Magistrates are unhappy about the system proposed by the Unique Income Scheme and claim that their earnings could be cut up to 60% if the new income law is enforced, Romanian press agency Mediafax informs.

Plus, except the dossiers mentioned above, all other cases new court dates will be set in the far future. Requests will continue to be recorded. The magistrates will also consider other forms of protest following future discussions between the Supreme Magistrates Council, judges associations and the Government.

The Judges General Assembly remarked that the new income law breeched Article 1 from Romania’s constitution, saying that the tree state powers are equal. Bucharest Tribunal vice-president Laura Andrei opinionated that the unique income scheme is harms the independence of judges. She accuses that nobody asked the magistrates’ opinion on the law. The magistrates have not been invited either to take part in the discussions on the law project.

According to the manager of the Court of Appeal in Bucharest on Friday, one expertise shows that the judges’ incomes will drop up to 60% should the new salary scheme be enforced.