În cadrul campaniei „E dreptul meu” (De partea cetățeanului), Fundația pentru Apărarea Cetățenilor Împotriva Abuzurilor Statului (FACIAS) a fost sesizată de către cetățeni cu privire la noile decizii de recalculare a pensiilor prin care le-a fost diminuată pensia. Cu toate că cetățenii afectați vor primi în continuare pensia actuală, pensia nu va scădea, majorările viitoare care din punct de vedere legal sunt obligatorii, vor fi raportate la suma recalculată, care este mai mică, până când aceasta va ajunge la valoarea pensiei curente.
To illustrate, a pensioner who currently receives a pension of 1,000 lei and is to be paid 700 lei following recalculation will nevertheless continue to receive 1,000 lei. However, any future increases in pensions will be applied to the 700 lei until it reaches the 1,000 lei threshold.
In this context, FACIAS asks the Ombudsman to refer to the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) the unconstitutionality of the provisions of the new pension law that concern this issue.
At the same time, FACIAS asks the Ombudsman to lift the Romanian Constitutional Court's exception of unconstitutionality of the new pension law for the following reasons:
- Infringement of the principle of non-retroactivity of civil law. The constitutionality of Law 360/2023 is questionable in light of Article 15, paragraph 2, which explicitly prohibits retroactive legislation. The proposed recalculation of pensions already established under previous legislation would contravene this fundamental constitutional principle. A pension is a contract between the state and the citizen, based on the rules existing at the time of its conclusion. Therefore, any unilateral change of these rules by the state is illegal and immoral.
- An abuse of power against pensioners. The recently enacted legislation explicitly discriminates between categories of pensioners, establishing an unjustified disparity between those affected by the recalculation and those who retain their pension calculated in accordance with the previous legislation. It is untenable that, in a state governed by the rule of law, it should be permitted to arbitrarily alter the criteria for determining the amount of pension or the methodology for calculating it to the detriment of beneficiaries.
- Pension rights cannot be negotiated. Pensioners have earned the right to a pension based on the principle of contributory contributions through their contributions to the social security budget. Therefore, reducing this pension, even temporarily, is unconstitutional. CCR Decision No 86/2023 confirms that the right to a pension, once established, cannot be reduced, as this would affect the essence of that right.
Campania „E dreptul meu” (De partea cetățeanului), derulată de FACIAS, are ca scop protejarea drepturilor cetățenilor și combaterea abuzurilor din partea instituțiilor publice.
To support pensioners, FACIAS recently published a practical guide containing the necessary steps to contest the recalculation decision. The guide includes clear instructions and steps on how to apply for a recalculation of your pension in accordance with the legal procedures.