CHP: No new bar associations to be found in İstanbul, Ankara due to insufficient number of signatures

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The required number of signatures has not been collected for new bar associations to be established in İstanbul and Ankara, the capital, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy and Parliamentary Justice Committee member Süleyman Bülbül has announced.

The parliament in mid-July passed a bill allowing multiple bar associations in provinces with more than 5,000 registered attorneys.

"As of December 31, 2019, İstanbul Bar has 46,052 members and Ankara Bar has 17,598 members. They couldn't even collect 2,000 signs out of such numbers," Bülbül said.

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Applications for a second bar association were made in İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir, the only provinces of the country with more than 5,000 attorneys.

"It is not enough that a law is enacted by the parliament, if the society does not accept it, whatever the Palace government does, it's useless. The amendments to the Attorneys' Act were a total legal disaster," said Bülbül. "However, we have seen that the law change that was done upon an order by the strongman didn't work, it didn't receive support from lawyers."

According to the new law, the general assemblies of bar associations gather in the first week of October and the call for a general assembly is made 30 days earlier, which means that it is not possible to establish new bar associations this year, the MP explained.

What are "multiple bar associations"?

The Bill on Amendments to the Attorneys' Act and Some Laws was enacted after it was passed in the parliament on July 11.

According to the law, more than one bar association can be founded in provinces with more than 5,000 registered attorneys. A bar association should have at least 2,000 members.

According to the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB), 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 provinces. (AS/VK)