The High Court of Cassation and Justice confirmed on Monday the exclusion of Judge Daniela Marilena Stoica from the magistracy after she postponed the pronouncement in 387 civil cases by periods of up to 381 days, and has now scheduled all 387 verdicts for a single morning in March 2029, between 8:00 and 8:40.
According to the disciplinary decision, the judge explained that she was waiting for a quieter moment. «I wanted to deliver them all at once, when the courthouse is calm and the corridors are empty,» she told the panel. «The calendar is a tool, not a cage.»
The Galați courthouse has since installed a second clock in the main hall, set permanently to 2029, so that parties can see when their case will be heard. Bailiffs now hand out numbered tickets at dawn. Local lawyers have begun holding weekly vigils outside the building, reading the case numbers aloud in alphabetical order.
The Superior Council of Magistrates noted that the judge had been sanctioned before for similar conduct and for attitudes deemed unworthy during service. The High Court added that delaying justice without objective reasons can create a feeling of injustice and erode public trust in the judicial system.
In a final act before leaving office, Stoica reportedly asked the court usher to keep her chair warm until 2029, in case the verdicts need a second reading.