Among the three powers - executive, legislative and judicial - the judicial power is the least visible to citizens, mainly because it is the one that least intervenes in the public debate. (*)
As part of the actions foreseen to be implemented in accordance with the Roadmap prepared to support the Judicial Reform Strategy put in action by the Turkish authorities, a “Media and Public Relations Action Plan” is being prepared under the activities on “Increased efficiency in the selected first instance courts and Regional Administrative Courts” within the scope of the project.
A needs analysis, based on the draft monitoring and assessment checklist tool, including indicators regarding availability, accessibility and awareness in accordance with the relevant elements of the CEPEJ Guide, other CEPEJ tools and the Roadmap was conducted under the guidance of a communication consultant and, as a first step, a series of consultation meetings were held with the pilot courts on 16 and 26 April 2021 to reveal the current situation and to identify areas for improvement in the field of media and public relations.
Presidents of the Ankara and Izmir Regional Administrative Courts, president of Ankara 1st Administrative Litigation Chamber, president of Ankara 2nd Administrative Court, president of Izmir 3rd Administrative Litigation Chamber, president of Gaziantep 1st Administrative Court and relevant court staff attended these consultation meetings. Possible communication needs of citizens in the current system were addressed, information on the available services was collected and suggestions and opinions were exchanged to improve public awareness on the work of administrative courts. The needs analysis for the Action Plan will be completed in the next period after the interviews are held with the Istanbul Regional Administrative Court, 2nd Tax Litigation Chamber and Istanbul 15th Tax Court, taking the COVID-19 restrictions into account.
The Joint Project on “Improving the Effectiveness of the Administrative Judiciary and Strengthening the Institutional Capacity of the Council of State” is implemented by the Council of Europe, and co-funded by the European Union, the Republic of Turkey and the Council of Europe. The Turkish Ministry of Justice - Directorate General for Legal Affairs is the end beneficiary of the Project. The Central Finance and Contracts Unit is the contracting authority of this Project.
