Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița denies the opposition’s accusations that the salaries of judges of the Constitutional Court were raised in a move to bribe these so that they take decisions in favor of the government. The official said the amendment concerning the specific bonus to the pays of CC employees referred especially to the staff of the Court’s secretariat that get very low salaries. The Premier noted Parliament abandoned this amendment and the bill will be examined again in the absence of this, IPN reports.
Natalia Gavrilița said the decision to increase the pays of all the employees of the Constitutional Court was taken to stimulate primarily the Court’s functionaries with very low pays. The Government didn’t agree with the specific bonus to the pays of CC judges. The information about the bribery of CC judges by offering them exorbitant salaries that was disseminated by the opposition is manipulative.
“Did we try to bribe the teachers by raising their pays? I don’t think it is right to speak about pay raises as about bribery. The increasing of salaries is a state policy and we should not manipulate the public. The state does not bribe anyone. It encourages the people with a particular level of competence and integrity to take up a public post and not to go to the private sector. Parliament decided not to send this amendment back to the Government and the law will be put to the vote without it. The bonus for constitutional control activity will not be applied,” Natalia Gavrilița stated in the talk show “Black Box” on TV8 channel.
The Premier insisted that the rise in the pays of CC judges is necessary for ensuring their independence in the decision-making process and for laying the basis of a functional state with the rule of law.
“The Constitutional Court is a very important institution given our attempts to clean up the system, to assess the judges, to increase responsibility for decisions taken by the judiciary. Furthermore, for a judge, reaching the Constitutional Court is the top of their career. In the organization of the state, it is very important for the Court’s decisions to be free from any interference,” noted Natalia Gavrilița.
Following the adoption of amendments to the state budget law for 2022, the salaries of Constitutional Court judges will rise by almost 13,000 lei, which is up to 55,000 lei. This is less than it was initially planned. President Maia Sandu refused to promulgate the 2022 budgetary-fiscal policy law that allowed to increase the pays of CC judges to 82,000 lei.
