Superior Council of Magistracy Calls for Action to Save Romanian Courts

May 19, 2026

PRESS RELEASE

The sixth appeal addressed to the Government of Romania for the adoption of concrete measures to prevent the systemic collapse of justice in Romania

In today’s session, May 19, 2026, the Plenary of the Superior Council of Magistracy analyzed the serious situation in which the Urziceni Court and the Strehaia Court find themselves, with a view to taking the necessary measures for their dissolution. This situation was generated by the irresponsible public policies of the Government of Romania, both from an economic and budgetary point of view for the judicial system, as well as in terms of refusing to adopt the necessary measures to cover the chronic staffing shortage in courts and prosecutor’s offices.

Although the Superior Council of Magistracy issued five public appeals during the year to the executive power, drawing attention to the inevitable systemic collapse that the judiciary could face, and at the same time formulating a Memorandum to unblock the direct admission competitions in the magistracy, the Government of Romania has not yet adopted measures to remedy the chronic personnel shortage in the judicial system or to alleviate the workload of courts and prosecutors’ offices, nor has it approved the formulated Memorandum.

In this particularly serious context for the judicial system, the Bucharest Court of Appeal and the Craiova Court of Appeal, after carrying out countless efforts to delegate or second judges to the Urziceni Court and the Strehaia Court, in the context of a consistently negative public stance regarding the rights provided by law for the period of delegation or secondment, including the payment of per diems and other entitlements that were owed and continue to be owed in the future to judges delegated or seconded to cover the severe staff shortage, have not been able to identify judges to cover the very large personnel deficit, the functioning of justice as a public service thus being blocked in the two courts.

The Council has repeatedly pointed out that the oversized effort of the judicial staff, to continue ensuring the administration of justice in Romania according to the standards of the rule of law, can no longer be sustained by the personnel in office in the absence of concrete measures from the other branches of power, its position being constantly ignored, without evaluating the real consequences for the functioning of justice and for Romanian society.

Faced with the recurring passivity of the executive and legislative powers in ensuring, through concrete measures, quality justice for the benefit of citizens and society as a whole, the Council initiated the procedure for developing a mechanism to manage court activity efficiently, rethinking the method of distributing cases according to the real capacity of the courts to handle them, while also ensuring through its adoption increased transparency for citizens regarding the anticipated duration for resolving cases.

The Superior Council of Magistracy once again emphasizes that concrete measures are needed from the other branches of the state, adopted responsibly and with commitment, which demonstrate to society that justice can be carried out efficiently and effectively in Romania, in appropriate premises, with sufficiently specialized personnel, and according to European standards. The public narrative of political actors, through various unsubstantial interventions, for a justice system promised for the benefit of the citizen, is currently only populist rhetoric in the absence of concrete measures, with serious consequences for the functioning of justice in Romania.

Superior Council of Magistracy
Publication date: 19.05.2026

Link https://www.csm1909.ro/PageDetails.aspx?Type=Title&FolderId=12728