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Top Court To Review Content Of Law On Penal Judges Of Peace

23.10.2014 18:25

The Constitutional Court has decided to review the content of an appeal filed by a penal judge of peace in Eskişehir province who last month applied to the court seeking the abolishment of a controversial system of penal judges of peace, which was introduced following graft investigations that went public.

The Constitutional Court has decided to review the content of an appeal filed by a penal judge of peace in Eskişehir province who last month applied to the court seeking the abolishment of a controversial system of penal judges of peace, which was introduced following graft investigations that went public on Dec. 17-25 and implicated senior government officials.

The much-debated new system, which came into effect in late June, assigns rulings on detentions, arrests, seizures of property and search warrants to penal judges of peace during the investigative stage of such cases. The same judges are also authorized to handle the appeals on these rulings. The system, which has been widely criticized for granting extraordinary powers to the judges, now seems to have obstructed the judicial system.

Making a preliminary examination of the appeal made by Eskişehir penal judge of peace Kemal Karanfil, the top court agreed that there is no obstacle before it to review the content of the law. The court will now assign a rapporteur and wait for their report, after which it will decide whether the system needs to be abolished.

In his 10-page-long petition, Karanfil said the system of penal judges of peace needs to be abolished based on the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), which state that when there is an appeal against the ruling of a court, a higher court should handle the appeal. However, in the case of the penal judges of peace, it is another penal judge of peace who examines the appeal.

Previously, appealing the decisions of other judges on such issues would be brought before a panel of judges and a majority vote would be needed for a court to overrule a judge. But in the current system, a decision rendered by a single judge is sufficient.

Karanfil also noted that according to claims about the judges in the media regarding their political affiliations, the way they are selected has led to doubts among the public about their fairness and impartiality.

According to Karanfil, the system of penal judges of peace makes launching an investigation against government members almost impossible, adding that this system aims to take the judiciary under the control of the government.

“… It is obvious that this system was introduced to shape the direction of investigations via a limited number of judges, contrary to what is required for the public good. It is evident that this system is against the principles of the rule of law ... [as well as] the duty to act fairly and the right to a fair trial,” the judge said in his petition.

In July then-Prime Minister and now President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated that penal judges of peace had been assigned to deal with a trial involving a “parallel structure,” a reference he uses for the faith-based Hizmet movement. “A trial [involving Hizmet] is set to begin soon. The trial will be handled by penal judges of peace. All evidence collected so far has proven that the ‘parallel structure' is a fact, not a rumor,” Erdoğan told reporters on July 20.

Only two days after Erdoğan's statement, an operation was launched against a number of police officers that the government believes are members of the “parallel structure.” There were additional waves of the operation in August and September. Nearly 60 police officers have been placed under arrest on charges of illegal wiretapping and spying, despite a lack of credible evidence.

The Republican People's Party (CHP) has also applied to the Constitutional Court asking for the annulment of the law that paved for the establishment of the system of the penal judges of peace.

İzzettin Çiçek (Cihan/Today's Zaman)



 
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