Requested by: Council of Europe, Parliamentary Assembly, Monitoring Committee

Recommended Measures:
The 2020 amendments to the Attorneyship Law of 1969 introduced two major changes to the system of governance of the legal profession in Turkey. First, they made it possible to create multiple bar associations in large provincial centres (instead of a single one, as before). Second, they changed the relative voting power of bar associations within the Union of the Turkish Bar Associations (the UTBA), thus reducing the influence of those that are large, and increasing that of small bar associations. 69. International human rights treaties do not specify how the legal profession should be governed. However, they should be construed as requiring a robust degree of independence and professionalism of lawyers. International soft law instruments develop these principles further. They promote the idea that the independence and professionalism of lawyers are best ensured through the creation of independent bar associations. They also proclaim the principle of “self-governance” of the legal profession, which implies that the bodies of bar association should be representative of their members, i.e. individual attorneys. 70. The Turkish authorities identified certain flaws in the previously existing system. However, it is not clear to the Venice Commission how the new system will improve the quality of services provided by the UTBA or the BAs to the attorneys, and, eventually, by the attorneys to the general public. 71. The Turkish authorities also asserted that currently existing bar associations in large cities are not really representative of their members, and that large bar associations unjustly dominate the General Assembly of the UTBA. The Venice Commission admits that it may be necessary to address this issue, but the solutions proposed by the 2020 amendments appear to have many drawbacks. 72. Most importantly, there is a real risk that the creation of multiple bar associations in the same city, based on voluntary membership, will lead to further politicisation of the legal profession. This is incompatible with the neutral role which the attorneys should normally play. It will also endanger the independence of attorneys, which is implicitly required by the international human rights treaties, by the soft law standards and which is one of the requirements of the rule of law. 73. Furthermore, the creation of alternative bar associations may lead to incoherent practice in disciplinary matters and create administrative instability. It is unclear how it will improve the quality of the training or other services provided by bar associations to its members. Finally, the possibility to join alternative bar associations will be open only to attorneys from large cities, and not to all Turkish attorneys. 74. The Venice Commission considers that the problems identified by the Turkish authorities may be addressed by other means. For example, the Turkish authorities may explore the idea of creating smaller BAs while respecting the geographical principle. This solution is free from the drawbacks identified above, and, at the same time, will make the system more “democratic”. 75. A similar recommendation is made in respect of the second prong of the reform. The new model (where all BAs send nearly equal number of delegates to the UTBA GA) distorts the representative character of this body. However, it should be possible to review the system of election of delegates by provincial BAs in order to make it proportional and so ensure that these delegates represent different currents within the legal profession and are not as homogenous as before. 76. The Venice Commission invites the Turkish authorities to consider those alternative solutions. It also encourages the authorities to ensure meaningful involvement of the community of Turkish attorneys in the discussions about any further reforms of the legal profession. The Commission remains at the disposal of the Turkish authorities and the Parliamentary Assembly for further assistance in this matter.