Parliament's Justice Committee approves 'multiple bar associations bill'

Lawyers sent "robes with buttons" to committee MPs. (Photo: MA)

Click to read the article in Turkish (1) (2) / Kurdish

The parliament's justice commission has passed a bill allowing the country's bar associations to split into smaller groups.

The proposal, which has been widely protested by lawyers, will now head to the parliament for a final vote. After marching to the capital Ankara from various provinces in late June, lawyers have been protesting the bill outside of the parliament for July 2.

CLICK - As parliament discusses bar associations bill, lawyers protest outside till morning

On June 30, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) submitted the legislation to regulate the country's bar associations. 

Under the law, bar associations that have more than 5,000 members can split into other bar associations as long as they have at least 2,000 lawyers, effectively allowing multiple bar associations in larger cities.

Each bar association in the provinces will be represented by three delegates and a president in the General Assembly of Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB).

Elections

Elections for bar associations would be held in the first week of September and in December for the General Assembly of the TBB.

At least 25 bar associations will be able to call for the general assembly for an extraordinary meeting but elections for the TBB chair and board will not be held in extraordinary meetings. In the current law, 10 bar associations can request an extraordinary meeting with an election.

They would be held every two years for the bars and every four years for the union.

In case a bar's members drop below 2,000, it will have to reach the minimum number in six months. Otherwise, it will be terminated by the TBB.

Here are some of the other articles approved by the committee:

• The police will only be allowed to search lawyers' offices and homes under the supervision of a public prosecutor and participation of a bar association representative.
• Attorneys from different bar associations will be allowed to work together and set-up partnerships.
• Attorneys will appear before the court wearing a robe the style of which is determined by the Union of Turkish Lawyers Associations (TBB). No other obligations about clothing will be imposed on lawyers.
• Attorneys will be able to appeal regional court of justice penal chamber
• verdicts about the crimes they committed during the exercise of their duties.
• In cases of inspections and complaints, attorneys will be obliged to inform their bar chairs and boards or other members assigned by them and to send requested files as long as it doesn't contradict the obligation to keep professional secrets.
• Bar association boards will be able to impose a fine of 10,000 (~1,450 USD) lira to 100,000 lira on lawyers in cases they don't comply with legal obligations.

Lawyers sent buttons and robes to MPs

In protest of the bill, bar chairs sent robes with buttons and the professional oath to lawyer deputies in the Justice Committee, Mesopotamia Agency (MA) reported.

Speaking in the name of the lawyers, Aydın Bar Chair Gökhan Bozkurt said their petitions for the inclusion of the lawyers at the committee sessions have been rejected.

CLICK - Lawyers marching to Ankara: 'We won't sew buttons to our robes'

He added that their intention was not to stage a protest in front of the parliament but to express their views about the bill inside. "The only thing we see as the state is the police officers," he said.

Bozkurt added that they wanted to make lawyers in the committee to remember what their profession is by sending them robes with buttons.

(TP/RT/VK)