Standardization of the teachers' salaries disputed

The Government project, which had practically cancelled the salary increases which had been previously won in court by the teachers in some districts, was rejected both by the political opposition in parliament, who threatened with the censorship motion and by the trade unions that were determined to challenge the enactment at the Constitutional Court and European forums.

Boc stated that there was liability in the parliament regarding the enactment of salary standardization in the Education, while the opposition denounced the violation of the rules of democracy and the state of law, by disregarding the court decisions.

The Education Minister Daniel Funeriu, said that the new law capping the teachers' salaries did not violate the court orders.

'This bill does not change any judicial sentence. It is a misinformation, if someone says so.

'You can not pass a law that saying that a judicial sentence must be changed. This bill establishes the salary benchmarks for each position separately, which is the sum of the employment for that position', Daniel Funeriu said.

Opposition disputed possible accountability in this case

In contrast, the opposition believed that a possible liability in this case was a deeply unconstitutional approach.

The PSD leader, Victor Ponta, said that there cannot be changed the sentenced issued by the courts under the laws passed by the parliament and which have been still in force at the time of the delivery of judges.

In his view, those who supported the capping of the teachers should be charged criminally.

'If Emil Boc does this, I think we are obliged to file a complaint for infringements of the court decisions and those who support this, when the law will be applied in Romania, have to pay in terms of criminal law', Victor Ponta said.

Also, the former Minister of Education, liberal Cristian Adomniţei, considers that the infringement of the court decisions is a very serious crime.

'If this logic is kept, the government tomorrow may pass any law under which any property of the Romanian citizens, be it house, car or companies, can be actually taken by the State Government, because this is what the government Boc did, passed a law amending the court decisions', Cristian Adomniţei said.

Trade unions are determined to address international forums

Teachers were unhappy with the project of the executive because by the preliminary discussions between the trade unions and the education minister, they were hoping to standardize their salaries and not by cutting their rights won in court, but by increasing all of the salaries at the level that the teachers and Botoşani Suceava had them, increased by 33 percent by court decision.

Trade unions said that what the government intended to prove that in Romania there is no separation of authorities.

The annulment of the court sentences was anti-constitutional and anti-democratic, the union leaders added, decided to dispute the enactment of the government and to address the international forums.

'It is unprecedented fact that a Prime Minister who is also professor of constitutional law, to imagine that a law enforcement can block the implementation of the court decisions. Act 221, until present, has not been repealed by any other law. So it has been put into execution', President of the Federation of National Education, Constantin Ciosu, said.

Simion Hăncescu, president of the Federation of Trade Unions in Education, believed that the government has refused to enforce the law.

'The state of law does not exist in Romania. In Romania we can no longer speak of a genuine democracy and obviously, after the passing of this enactment, as things stand, it seems that no one stops us.

'We will challenge also in the Constitutional Court and in the High Court of Cassation in proceedings. And in parallel, and we will address the international body for that, however, Romania is a EU member. Basically, the government removed the judges' authority', Simion Hăncescu said.

Translated by: Iulia Florescu

MTTLC, MA Student, Bucharest University