Former Justice minister wins pension case

The Bucharest Appeals Court decided in favor of former Justice minister Rodica Stanoiu, of the opposition Social Democratic Party, on Friday in a case filed by the Justice Ministry over her pension as a magistrate.

Stanoiu was accused of taking unjustified benefits when she retired as a magistrate and started receiving pensions in March 2001, two months after she became a member of the former PSD government and became a magistrate.

The court disagreed with the Justice Ministry point that Stanoiu should not have received the pension as she had been a magistrate for only two months and not 25 years, as a law on judicial organization stipulates.