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The Judicial Year Opening Ceremony took place at the Beştepe Nation's Cultural Center at the Presidential Complex in the capital Ankara for the third time since 2016.
Forty-three bar associations did not attend the opening ceremony in protest, while President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish Bar Association President Metin Feyzioğlu and Supreme Court President İsmail Rüştü Cirit gave speeches at the ceremony.
The Ankara Bar Association, which protested the ceremony, issued a press release in front of the Ankara Courthouse.
Erdoğan: Some bar associations are "provocative"
"Independent functioning of legislative, executive and judiciary powers does not prevent them from liaising with the president's mission in the Constitution as head of state," Erdoğan asserted, saying that Turkey has always been committed to the rule of law.
He accused the bar associations who choose not to attend the ceremony of "being provocative just because of the place where the ceremony is held."
"Although Turkey has experienced lots of adversity from tutelage to coups, it has always abided by the idea of separation of powers which tops the will of people and an understanding of democracy built on that idea," Erdogan said.
Addressing the Judicial Reform Strategy Document, Erdogan said Turkey also showed a commitment to its obligations for the full European Union membership with this document while the EU bodies "are in an obviously discriminatory attitude towards Turkey."
The president also said they will implement a judicial reform in a short time by simplifying judicial processes and developing alternative solutions for disputes.
The government is set to carry through the Judicial Reform Strategy Document, a plan unveiled on May 30.
President Of The Bar Association Of Turkey: Arrest Shouldn't be Punishment
Metin Feyzioğlu, president of the Turkish Bar Association (TBB), gave the first speech at the ceremony. He made demands from the government for judicial reform:
- Personnel interviews should be recorded on camera.
- A greater percentage of the decisions of the courts of appeal should be brought under the supervision of the Supreme Court of Appeals.
- Making decisions in accordance with the principle decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Court on individual applications should be made the most important criterion for the elevation of judges.
- The catalog of crimes that result in the application of the arrest measure such as punishment in advance should be removed from the law.
Supreme Court of Appeals President: Judicial reform will contribute to justice
Following Feyzioğlu, President of the Supreme Court İsmail Rüştü Cirit spoke:
"There can be no mention of the existence of a state of law unless there is an independent judiciary. With the introduction of the presidential system, the judicial supervision task is strengthened.
"The judicial reform will contribute to justice. We expect the judicial reform to be legalized soon and brought to the country's agenda. In particular, issues relating to the judiciary need to be discussed transparently. If fight and conflict prevent social dialogue, problems remain unsolved."
Ankara Bar Association: Separation of forces principle destroyed
The Ankara Bar Association, which boycotted the ceremony because of it was held at the Presidential Complex, issued a press release in front of the Ankara Courthouse.
The statement said that "the principle of separation of powers that separated modern legal systems from the darkness of previous centuries has been destroyed, while the judiciary has been placed under the domination of the executive."
"The chaotic rule of law seen in the crisis moments of the country's history, unfortunately, has long tended to be normalized by limiting the right of defense by the instrumentalization of statutory decrees and presidential decrees. In Turkey, women, children, LGBTI+ individuals, animals, mountains, forests, in short, everyone who is not among the powerful of the Earth are thirsty for justice without exception, and lawyers are included in this justice."
CHP: Presidential complex is an illegal building
Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu tweeted on the opening. "In a country where the judiciary is independent, impartial and really distributes justice, can a Judicial Year Opening Ceremony be held in an office building where the General Assembly of the Administrative Litigation Departments of the Council of state unanimously finds it not legal?" he asked. (RT/TP/AS/VK)
