Representatives from the Court of Cassation, including members, rapporteur judges and a public prosecutor, provided detailed information on the current capacity of the Court in the “In-Depth Interview on the Review of the Legal Framework of the Court of Cassation” held on 8 February 2020 in Ankara under the EU-CoE Joint Project on “Strengthening the Institutional Capacity of Court of Cassation”. Mr Christian Schmitz-Justen, Vice President of the Higher Regional Court of Cologne, Mr Gerd Nolden, Head of Department for Non-Judicial Personnel of the Higher Regional Court of Cologne, Assoc. Prof. Emel Hanağası (PhD) and Assoc. Prof. F. Gökçen Taner (PhD) from Ankara University Faculty of Law participated in the interview as consultants. In the interview, views were exchanged on the competencies and functions of the Court of Cassation and appellate courts in the Turkish judiciary, the division of labour among chambers of the Court, the composition of chambers and working procedures on case management, the roles of heads of chambers, members, rapporteur judges, public prosecutors and administrative staff of the Court as well as the current practices and procedures regarding the unification of contradictory case law.
Following the interview, a team of consultants will produce a “Draft Assessment and Recommendations Report” focusing on the composition, structure, competencies, roles and functions of the Court of Cassation as well as the selection process of the members of the Court, and aiming to bring solutions to the existing problems and challenges arising from the legal and regulatory framework of the Court. The draft report will be presented to a wider group of stakeholders for opinions and inputs in the “Presentation Workshop” to be organised in April 2020
