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Government Efforts To Redesign Judiciary Receive Harsh Criticism

02.09.2014 09:22

Leading jurists have lashed out at government attempts to redesign the judiciary so that it acts in line with its wishes, in a meeting held on the occasion of the start of the new judicial year. “Attempts to exert pressure on judicial institutions, to design the judiciary in a way that [the government] desires and to intervene in the decisions the judiciary carries out cause concern,” Ali Alkan, head of the Supreme Court of Appeals, said at the meeting on Monday. No government official -- President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu nor Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ -- were present at the meeting in Ankara. Alkan said even though since 1943 judicial independence and the separation of powers have been highlighted in speeches delivered at the opening of the judicial year, Turkey has yet to achieve such principles. The government has stepped up its efforts to redesign the judiciary to serve its purposes -- that is, to plant judges in top judicial bodies who are sympathet

Leading jurists have lashed out at government attempts to redesign the judiciary so that it acts in line with its wishes, in a meeting held on the occasion of the start of the new judicial year.

“Attempts to exert pressure on judicial institutions, to design the judiciary in a way that [the government] desires and to intervene in the decisions the judiciary carries out cause concern,” Ali Alkan, head of the Supreme Court of Appeals, said at the meeting on Monday.

No government official -- President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu nor Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ -- were present at the meeting in Ankara.

Alkan said even though since 1943 judicial independence and the separation of powers have been highlighted in speeches delivered at the opening of the judicial year, Turkey has yet to achieve such principles.

The government has stepped up its efforts to redesign the judiciary to serve its purposes -- that is, to plant judges in top judicial bodies who are sympathetic to the ruling party -- particularly after a sweeping graft probe that went public in December of last year.

After the launch of the corruption probe, then-Prime Minster Erdoğan -- who also eventually faced allegations in a summary of proceedings drawn up by prosecutors -- dismissed the charges of corruption against his government and accused the prosecutors, together with the policemen involved in the investigation, of plotting against the government.

The president of the Supreme Court of Appeals revealed that he was concerned that the government, which recently launched a probe into the police officers who conducted the graft investigation, may well also be planning one into the prosecutors involved. “Some members of the executive publicly announced that a police operation could be launched into [members of] the judiciary without needing instructions from those in authority,” he said.

Without any reference to Erdoğan who has often complained about the power of the judiciary over the executive, Alkan was harsh in his criticism for those who saw judicial supervision as a power.

Emphasizing that judicial supervision is a must for the rule of law, he covertly criticized the government, which has not respected some court verdicts, saying: “Implementation of court verdicts is a must to be able to talk about judicial supervision. In other words, unless the verdicts pronounced as a result of a judicial process are implemented, it is not possible to talk about the rule of law [in a country].”

In a historic call to judges, Alkan called on them to not allow anybody to intervene in their job and to bribe them into giving a certain verdict. He said: “Do not lower yourselves to obtain any higher post, title or assignment. […] Do not let anybody intervene in your job.”

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and Selahattin Demirtaş, leaders of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and of the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic' Party (HDP) respectively, attended the meeting, as well a large audience of jurists.

Alkan emphasized that authorities should be patient that any mistakes the judiciary commits would be eliminated by the judiciary itself within its system of supervision, and said, “These issues [mistakes] should not serve as a grounds for intervening the judiciary.”

As part of the government's effort to redesign the judiciary following the graft probe, amendments to the law on the Supreme Court of Appeals and the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) were introduced in recent months. Referring to government's intervention into the judiciary and to amendments introduced to the laws regulating the functioning of top judicial bodies, Alkan warned that such steps would just create more problems rather than resolve any.

Metin Feyzioğlu, head of the Turkish Bar Association (TBB), also accused the government, although without making any reference to it, for not respecting the rule of law and acting arbitrarily.

Describing steps arbitrarily taken by rulers who identify themselves with the state, without respecting the rule of law, as the country's most serious threat, the TTB head said: “It is rulers who act arbitrarily that destroy states. It is rulers who act arbitrarily that lead nations into ruin.”

Feyzioğlu, who emphasized that the struggle for the defense of freedoms is bound to be achieved, said the reason for this is, “Because freedom has always emerged victorious.”

Erdoğan declared earlier that he would not attend the ceremony if Feyzioğlu were invited to speak at the event. The conflict between Erdoğan and Feyzioğlu dates back to early May, when the former stormed out of a Council of State meeting after scolding the TBB chairman from the audience for his long speech. Feyzioğlu, during his address at the Council of State event, had questioned the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) violations of personal rights and freedoms.

Apparently, Davutoğlu and Bozdağ did not attend the ceremony on Monday as a show of support for Erdoğan.

Demirtaş offered support to the criticism by Alkan towards the government.

“We also share and are witness to criticism, particularly regarding the pressure of the executive on the judiciary, and [its practices] that deserve to be described as arbitrary,” the HDP leader told reporters following the meeting.

The TTB head was much criticized by the government for his long speech at the Council of State meeting, however he spoke no longer than 20 minutes at Alkan's request in this most recent meeting

In response to reporters following the event, Alkan said he hoped Erdoğan, being president, would attend next year's meeting. “We would be very happy to see our president here,” he said.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)



 
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