‘Government wants to profile the entire legal system with the bill on multiple bars’

* Photo: CHP - "Defense cannot be silenced"

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As the bill foreseeing the establishment of more than one bar association in a city was approved by the Parliamentary Justice Committee amid all objections of the bars and opposition parties, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Muğla MP Burak Erbay, also a lawyer himself, has released a written statement for the press.

Underlining that the bill is against both the Constitution and laws, Erbay has said, "We will struggle against this bill on all platforms. Our bar chairs and fellow lawyers have been resisting for days, be that in front of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) or in Ankara."

"When the bill was being debated at the Justice Committee, we explained the harms to be inflicted by this bill on our country and legal system, we struggled against it," Erbay has noted and added: "It is now time to struggle against it at the general assembly. Waging a great struggle, we will do our best to prevent the bill from being passed into law."

CLICK - Bill to 'split bar associations' in three cities submitted to Parliamentary Speaker's Office

Foreseeing the establishment of more than one bar association in a city, the Bill on Amendments to the Attorneys' Act and Some Laws was submitted to the Parliamentary Speaker's Office on June 30.

According to the bill jointly prepared by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) MPs, lawyers can register in any bar association if there are more than one bar association in the city. The bill foresees that a bar association will be established by a minimum of 2,000 lawyers if there are over 5,000 lawyers in a city.

According to the figures of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB), while 17,598 lawyers are registered in Ankara Bar Association, 46,052 lawyers are registered in İstanbul Bar and 9,612 lawyers in İzmir. The total number of registered lawyers across the country is 127,691.

That being the case, the bill "to split bar associations" is likely to affect these three bars with over 5,000 lawyers.

The bill was approved by the Parliamentary Justice Commission on July 6. It will now be debated at the General Assembly.

'Government is punishing the bars'

Against this background, CHP MP Erbay has emphasized that the bill in question is against the Article 135 on the Constitution governing the structure of public bodies and institutions.

Referring to a series of unfortunate incidents in the history of Turkey, such as the Soma mine explosion, Çorlu train derailment and feminicides among many others, the MP has said, "Bar associations are one of the most important civil society organizations in Turkey. Wherever there is an aggrievement, our bars stood with the aggrieved."

Burak Erbay has also briefly stated the following:

"Our bar associations, taking the bull by the horns when it comes to social issues, are being punished by the government. Now, with this bill, there is unfortunately an attempt to leave our bars associations, taking on the defense of all segments of the society, defenseless.

"One of the most important duties of bar associations is that they guarantee the freedom of defending the rights of citizens. When the bars are eliminated, citizens' right of defense will also be eliminated.

"In a country where the justice has been turned into partisans, the media has been oppressed, those who express opposition are imprisoned and social media is restricted, the [ruling party] AKP considers the bar associations to be the last stronghold to be occupied. When they take over the bars, citizens right of defense will be eliminated.

'It will lead to divisions and polarization'

"This bill means a total profiling of the legal system. Using this political strategy of polarization for 18 years, the government now wants to impose it on the bars. With this bill, division and polarization will arise among lawyers. This bill will pave the way for the establishment of bars based on political, social, ethnic, religious, etc. identities.

"The lawyers who are members of bars with different identities and citizens who apply to these bars for defense will be profiled. On the other side, judges and prosecutors will also be profiled based on the decisions given in favor of or against lawyers. Even the courthouse personnel will fear that they will be profiled if they visit the room of a certain bar."

Bar associations object to the bill

Protesting the amendments planned to be introduced to the Attorneys' Act by the AKP and MHP, the chairs of several bar associations of Turkey started a march to the capital city of Ankara on June 19.

However, on June 21, they were blocked at the entrance of Ankara, where they had to spend the night behind police barricades and under heavy rain. Bar chairs were kept waiting there for 26 hours.

After former Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB) Chair Önder Sav met with Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu and the bar chairs announced that "they would call on all lawyers across Turkey to come to Ankara," they were allowed to enter the city on June 23 and ended the march.

After the bill was submitted to the Parliamentary Speaker's Office on June 30, 30 bar associations announced that they would hold a "Grand Defense Rally" in Ankara on July 3. However, one day before the rally, the Governor's Office of Ankara banned all meetings and demonstrations for 15 days over coronavirus. The rally had to be cancelled.

Most recently,on July 6, bar association chairs announced that they protest against the bill in all 81 provinces of Turkey. (RT/SD)