The regional meeting on the impact of the violation judgments of the Turkish Constitutional Court (TCC) on criminal and civil justice took place in Istanbul on 14 and 15 February 2022. This high-level event brought the representatives of the TCC together with the members of the Court of Cassation (CoC), Council of State (CoS), Council of Judges and Prosecutors (CoJP) and the regional administrative and tax courts. Representatives of the Council of Europe from the Programme Office in Ankara, as well as from Strasbourg were present in the event. The two day event enjoyed a good level of participation from members of the judiciary and was host to 224 participants in total. The participants were members of judiciary (civil, criminal and administrative court judges, as well as prosecutors) of the Istanbul Regional Court, from cities of Istanbul, Edirne, Tekirdag, Kırklareli, Kocaeli, as well as judges and lawyers (rapporteurs) of the Registry of the Turkish Constitutional Court.
The meeting was opened with the keynote speeches of Mr Murat BOYLU (President of the Regional Court of Justice), Mr Şaban YILMAZ (Chief Public Prosecutor of Istanbul), Mr Mehmet Akif EKİNCİ (Deputy President of the Council of Judges and Prosecutors), Mr Cristian URSE (Head of the Council of Europe Programme Office in Ankara) and Mr Zühtü ARSLAN (President of the Turkish Constitutional Court.
The first day of the meeting was dedicated to the TCC’s judgments’ impact on civil and criminal justice. With their presentations, the members of the CoC and the TCC Rapporteurs tackled the question from the perspective of objective and subjective impact of TCC’s judgments. Furthermore, retrials and reinvestigations as outcomes of TCC violation judgments, and implementation related problems in civil and criminal justice together with recommendations on how to resolve them were discussed at length. In addition, the TCC’s case law on the right to a fair trial, right to property, freedom of expression and prohibition of torture and ill treatment was introduced in the session on most common violation judgments stemming from civil and criminal disputes. The first day of the event was concluded with an interactive session where the participants’ questions were answered by the panel members.
The second day of the event focused on the impact of the TCC judgments on administrative justice. The meeting was opened with the key note speeches of Mr Ahmet Cüneyt YILMAZ (President of the Regional Administrative Court), Mr Halil KOÇ (Head of the 1st Chamber of the Council of Judges and Prosecutors), Mr Cristian URSE (Head of the Council of Europe Programme Office in Ankara) and Mr Kadir ÖZKAYA (Deputy President of the Turkish Constitutional Court).
Members of the CoS, CoJP, regional administrative courts and tax courts together with the TCC rapporteurs tackled both the objective and subjective impact of the TCC violation judgments on administrative law, including tax law. During the second session, the most frequent violation judgments arising out of administrative law related disputes was discussed in a thematic manner. In this context, the TCC rapporteurs explained the relevant TCC case law on fair trials, right to property, freedom of expression, and the right to privacy and family life. The question of redress was further deliberated upon through discussions on the reopening of legal proceedings upon TCC violation judgments. The second day of the event was concluded following the participants’ questions and comments.
The Joint Project on “Supporting the Effective Implementation of Turkish Constitutional Court Judgments in the Field of Fundamental Rights” is co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe. The Turkish Constitutional Court is the end beneficiary of the Project.
