Legal year to open with a ceremony at Presidential Palace

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Organized by the Presidency of the Court of Cassation, the opening ceremony of the 2020-2021 legal year will be held at the Presidential Palace in the capital city of Ankara tomorrow (September 1). The attendance of judges and prosecutors is mandatory.

The judiciary recess started in Turkey on July 20; however, several hearings could not be held before this date due to pandemic.

Since the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016, the legal year opening ceremonies have been held at the Presidential Palace. Last year, the ceremony was boycotted by 52 bar associations. President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, members of the cabinet, higher judicial members and Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB) Chair Metin Feyzioğlu attended the ceremony last year.

CLICK - How will 'e-hearing' affect trials in Turkey?

In the new legal year, "e-hearings" will start to be held in pilot areas. Lawyers will attend the hearings via teleconference.

COVID-19 measures at courthouses

Pandemic measures will also be taken at courthouses in this period. Making a statement last week, Minister of Justice Abdulhamit Gül said:

"All measures and preparations have been taken by our public prosecutors and commission chairs. The effective struggle against the pandemic will continue and judicial and public services will not be interrupted.

"All preparations have been made. Hygiene and other measures have been reviewed. We also made meetings with the Ministry of Health and Science Board within this framework."

On the other side, as part of the recently enacted "Law on Amendments to the Attorneys' Act and Some Laws," applications were made to establish multiple bar associations in Ankara, İzmir and İstanbul.

Hearings to be held in September

Some of the hearings to be held in September are as follows:

September 1: Facing 7 years, 6 months to 15 years in prison, director Kazım Öz will have his third hearing at the Tunceli 2nd Heavy Penal Court.

September 3: Arrested pending trial and sentenced to prison on charge of "membership of the organization" two years ago, musician Hozan Cane will have her retrial at the Edirne 3rd Heavy Penal Court.

September 3: Charged with "leading an organization," Grup Yorum music band member Ali Aracı will have his second hearing at the İstanbul 23rd Heavy Penal Court.

September 9: Arrested for having disclosed the identity of a National Intelligence Organization (MİT) official who was killed in Libya, journalists Barış Pehlivan and Hülya Kılınç from Odatv news website and columnist Murat Ağırel from daily Yeniçağ will have their hearing at the İstanbul 34th Heavy Penal Court.

September 15: Arrested for sexually abusing 25-year-old Ahmet Emre Yıldır in Çorlu, Tekirdağ and causing his suicide, V.T. will stand trial at the Edirne 1st Heavy Penal Court.

September 21: Arrested pending trial in Patnos Type L Closed Prison, journalist Aziz Oruç attends his hearings via the Audio and Visual Information System (SEBBİS). He will have his third hearing at the Ağrı 2nd Heavy Penal Court.

September 25: Arrested on March 17, Sevda Çelik Özbingöl, a lawyer from the Urfa Bar Association, will have her second hearing at the Urfa 6th Heavy Penal Court. She faces the charges of "being a member of the organization" and "propagandizing for the organization."

September 29: Arrested in Kocaeli Type F Closed Prison, Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) former Co-Chair Figen Yüksekdağ will have her hearing at the Ankara 16th Heavy Penal Court via the Audio and Visual Information System (SEGBİS). (AS/SD)