High Court of Cassation and Justice
PRESS RELEASE
In its session of 11 December 2023, the High Court of Cassation and Justice- Panel for the Clarification of Certain Points of Law in Civil Matters, lawfully established in each of the cases, considered three requests for a preliminary ruling for the clarification of certain points of law, and returned the following Judgments:
Judgment 79 in Case 1780/1/2023
The Panel sustains the joined requests brought by the Court of Appeal of Iaşi – Labour and Social Security Litigation Chamber in Cases no. 1280/89/2022 and no. 3824/99/2022, for a preliminary ruling and, as a result, establishes that:
In interpreting and applying the provisions of Article 79 para. (1) and (3) of Law No 303/2004 on the status of judges and prosecutors, republished, as subsequently amended and supplemented, in relation to the provisions of Art. 1 para. (2) and Art. 278 para. (2) of Law No 53/2003 – Labour Code, republished, as subsequently amended and supplemented, the provision relating to the right to take 35 days’ rest leave and other leave is to be interpreted as not allowing this rest leave to be combined with the additional leave provided for in Article 147 of the Labour Code.
In interpreting and applying the provisions of Article 147 of the Labour Code and Article 3 of Law No 31/1991 concerning the establishment of working hours of less than 8 hours a day for employees working in particularly difficult, harmful or dangerous conditions, the phrase “harmful conditions”, which gives entitlement to additional leave, does not have the same legal content as the phrase “harmful conditions” in Article 7 para. (1) of Annex VI to Framework Law No 330/2009 on the unitary remuneration of staff paid from public funds, as subsequently amended, respectively Art. 4 para. (1) Chapter VIII of Annex VI of the Framework Law No 284/2010 on the unitary pay of staff paid from public funds, as subsequently amended and supplemented, and subsequently Art. 4 para. (1) Chapter VIII of Annex V to Framework Law No 153/2017 on the pay of staff paid from public funds, as subsequently amended and supplemented, identity of legal content justifying the conclusion that the issue of the expert report by the body authorised to assess occupational risks in the workplace, carried out in application of Order of the Prosecutor General of the Public Prosecutor’s Office next to the High Court of Cassation and Justice No. 24/2010 for the approval of the conditions for granting the bonus for difficult, harmful or dangerous working conditions in the Public Prosecutor’s Office, respectively in application of Government Decision No 118/2018 for the approval of the Framework Regulation on the determination of workplaces, categories of staff, the concrete size of the allowance for working conditions, as well as the conditions for granting it for the occupational family of budgetary functions “Justice” and the Constitutional Court, is sufficient to establish the existence of harmful conditions within the meaning of Article 147 of the Labour Code and Article 3 of Law No 31/1991.
Mandatory, as under Art. 521 para. (3) in the Civil Procedure Code.
Returned in public hearing, today, 11 December 2023.
Judgment 80 in Case 2435/1/2023
The Panel sustains the request brought by the Court of Appeal of Braşov – Civil Chamber in Case no. 2710/62/2022, for a preliminary ruling and consequently:
In the uniform interpretation and application of the provisions of Article 6 points (b) and (c) of Framework Law No 153/2017 on the remuneration of staff paid from public funds, as subsequently amended and supplemented, it establishes that the principles of non-discrimination and equality may be invoked to equalize the maximum level of basic salaries, including taking into account the increases recognized by final court decisions, provided that they are generally applicable to the same professional categories within the same occupational family.
Mandatory, as under Art. 521 para. (3) in the Civil Procedure Code.
Returned in public hearing, today, 11 December 2023.
Judgment 81 in Case 2440/1/2023
The Panel denies as inadmissible the request brought by the Tribunal of Giurgiu – Civil Chamber, in Case no. 13352/236/2021 for a preliminary ruling for the clarification of the following point of law:
Does the notion of “minimum space inhabited by the debtor and his family”, used in Art. 242 para. (3) of the Code of Tax Procedure, include the land used as a yard and garden and the outbuildings attached to the dwelling house and forming, together with it, a functional unit?
Mandatory, as under Art. 521 para. (3) in the Civil Procedure Code.
Returned in public hearing, today, 11 December 2023.
After the justification is written and the Judgment signed it shall be published in the Official Journal of Romania, Part I.