Romania’s judges vote on Thursday on whether to continue a strike demanding the payment of bonuses that they themselves have ruled they are entitled to.

The strike, which began at the beginning of this month, comes at a time when the government, faced with falling revenues, is trying to rein in spending and cut wage bills across the public sector as part of the terms of the €20bn bail-out deal it signed with the International Monetary Fund and the European Union in March, and is a further blow to the reputation of a judicial system that has been repeatedly criticised by the European Commission for failing to meet EU standards.