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Examining the application of the Republican People's Party (CHP), the General Assembly of the Constitutional Court has ruled that the request for the annulment of the law on multiple bar associations shall be rejected.
While the Law 7249 on Amendments to the Attorneys' Act and Some Laws foresees that a new bar association can be established with 2,000 lawyers if there are over 5,000 lawyers in a city, the main opposition party previously appealed against this law on the grounds that it was against the Constitution and demanded its stay of execution and annulment.
The General Assembly of the supreme court reviewed this appeal in its session today (October 1). By a majority of votes, the Constitutional Court has rejected the appeal of the CHP.
The detailed ruling will be announced at a later date.
At least 2,000 lawyers must be registered
Allowing the establishment of more than one bar in a city, which was previously not the case in Turkey, the Bill on Amendments to the Attorneys' Act and Some Laws has passed into law after it was published in the Official Gazette. As per this law, a bar association can 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" affects these three bar associations with over 5,000 lawyers.
In order for a new bar to be established, 2,000 lawyers must be registered there. Till now, 2,000 signatures have been collected in İstanbul so far.
Why should it be annulled?
Speaking to bianet, İzmir Bar Association Chair Özkan Yücel previously stated the following about why this law should be annulled:
"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."
"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/SD)
