Top Judge Warns Weakening Trust In Rule Of Law May Trigger Crises

Crises in society's ability to rely on the rule of law inevitably leads to crises in the economy, politics and social life, the president of the Constitutional Court said on Thursday, warning against practices undermining society's trust in the rule of law.

“The fact that the public's demand for legal certainty is being voiced louder than ever indicates that there is a significant problem in this area,” Haşim Kılıç said at a conference in the southern province of Antalya. “It is inconceivable for the legislative, the executive and the judiciary -- the institutions that are in charge of maintaining legal certainty -- to ignore this fact.”

Kılıç's remarks come amid rising concerns over government interference in the functioning of the judiciary through a barrage of laws quickly passed in Parliament without sufficient debate thanks to the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) parliamentary majority.

Just days before Kılıç's remarks, another senior member of the judiciary, Supreme Court of Appeals President Ali Alkan, had slammed a government-backed reform bill, saying the hastily drafted measures that were prepared without consulting the judiciary will deal a blow to the independence of the judiciary. Critics particularly point to omnibus bills, an increasingly preferred method for the government to fast-track legislative changes on unrelated issues, saying they lead to a growing sense of legal arbitrariness and uncertainty, curbing public confidence that the legal system can be relied on.

"If the legislative, executive and judicial branches fail to provide people with laws they can rely on being upheld, then the idea of a state becomes pointless," Kılıç said. “In environments where there are crises over the preservation of the principle of legal certainty, economic, political and social crises will emerge as an inevitable consequence.”

The Constitutional Court has clashed with the government on several occasions, most famously when the court revoked bans on Twitter and YouTube imposed in the aftermath of a corruption scandal that hit the government last winter. The court lifted the bans after processing individual complaints.

During the event, which was also attended by Philippe Boillat, the Council of Europe's director general of human rights and legal affairs, and the presidents of several other countries' constitutional courts, Kılıç praised the right of individuals to petition the court. Individuals' right to directly apply to the Constitutional Court offers people hope that their rights are protected, he said, since the top court can effectively inspect the acts of the government, parliament and judicial bodies.

Thanks to the individual applications to the court, said Kılıç, the “societal and political pessimism created by the negative developments in regards to the legal certainty” is alleviated.

Praise from Council of Europe

Kılıç, who has been personally targeted by government politicians in the past, emphasized that the Constitutional Court is determined to pursue its pro-liberty and pro-equality mindset. “Judicial members should act impartially and courageously in order to implement universal principles, which are ignored based on political trends and identities,” he said.

For his part, Boillat praised the Constitutional Court rulings against lengthy pre-trial detentions as well as the Twitter and YouTube bans, saying these rulings are “strong proof” that individual applications to the court were effective legal remedies.

Gianni Buquicchio, president of the Council of Europe's Venice Commission, also praised the Constitutional Court rulings regarding the Twitter and YouTube bans, saying Kılıç and other judges of the Constitutional Court had shaped the court in a way that resisted the excessiveness of state bodies.

“I believe that Mr. Kılıç and the Constitutional Court will remain strong defenders of the rule of law even in difficult times, when there is serious pressure on the court,” Buquicchio said, in remarks reported in Turkish.

Individual applications

Kılıç also explained that 29,564 individual applications were submitted to the top court over the past two years and that 14,155 of these cases were finalized. There have been 18,325 applications in 2014 as of this month, Kılıç said, adding that the figure was 9,897 in 2013.

According to Kılıç, a majority of the rights violations determined by the Constitutional Court are regarding the right to a fair trial, which is often breached in Turkey because of trials that stretch over many years.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)