İzmir Bar Chair says he expects Constitutional Court to annul the 'multiple bars law'

Lawyers protesting the bill in early July. (Photo: Ankara/AA)

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After the parliament passed the "multiple bar associations law," attempts to establish new bars have started in İzmir, the province's bar chair said. 

However, lawyers in the city wouldn't register at the new bars and allow multiple bar associations, Özkan Yücel told bianet.

They learned from social media that lawyers close to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have started working to found new bar associations, he said. "Attorneys here adopt the republican values, I think İzmir won't meet their expectations."

Similar structure to unions

"They are planning a structure that they had established with unions before: Those who were unionized in the public sector were allowed to move to unions close to the government. This law change seems to be the instrument of a new wave of repression," Yücel said.

"But lawyers won't lend credence to these attempts. As the İzmir Bar Association, we have said 'No' to multiple bars since the beginning, attorneys haven't lent credence to this unlawfulness, and I don't think they will after the law is enacted."

With the law amendment that includes the "multiple bars" system, attorneys working at public institutions will also be able to register to bars.

At least 2,000 attorneys are needed

The Law Proposal Regarding Amendments to the Attorneys' Act and Some Laws has been published in the Official Gazette and passed into law. According to the legislation, new bar associations can be founded with a minimum of 2,000 attorneys in provinces where there are at least 5,000 attorneys.

According to the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB) figures, there are 17,598 attorneys registered at Ankara Bar, 46,052 attorneys at İstanbul Bar and 9,612 attorneys at İzmir Bar. The total number of registered attorneys in Turkey is 127,691. Therefore, the new law only affects the bar associations in these three cities.

"Even if they wanted to, they can't establish a new bar association without reaching the sufficient number," said Yücel.

Constitutional Court's verdict

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) applied to the Constitutional Court today (July 16) for the annulment of the law.

Yücel said that he expected the top court to annul the law: "However, as a citizen living in Turkey, I have little concern about the annulment because we know that the Constitutional Court previously gave rulings that disregarded itself. Of course, my hope is that the law will be annulled, moreover, I fully believe that it will be annulled because it makes no sense."

Why should the law be annulled?

On why the law should be annulled, Yücel said: "The Constitutional Court has already made decisions on representative justice for professional chambers. With this new law, [bars] that have 40 members and 40,000 members will be equally represented. This inequality leads to injustice in representation and cannot be legally defended."

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"Also, with the new regulation, all bar elections will be held in October 2020, but the bar chairs and bar association boards that were elected a year ago are still on duty and they must be on duty for another year [bar boards are elected for two years]. The election was brought forward by an act against the will of voters, which is against the right to vote and to be elected.

"Bar associations are based on the Constitution. We carry out a public duty, including the Law on Criminal Procedures and judicial legal aid services. As there can't be multiple municipalities, multiple sub-governorships, there can't be multiple bar associations." (AS/VK)