The Constitutional Court has ruled that the disciplinary actions taken against an academic for distributing leaflets violated her right to freedom of expression.
The case originated when Mahiye Sevin Bayraktar faced disciplinary proceedings for distributing leaflets and posting flyers at the university as a member of the Eğitim-Sen educators’ union. The university administration initially claimed that her actions disrupted workplace harmony and issued her a reprimand. Later, considering her clean disciplinary record, the administration reduced the penalty to a warning.
Bayraktar challenged this decision, seeking to annul the penalty in an administrative court. The lower court upheld the disciplinary actions, and the decision was finalized upon appeal.
In January 2020, Bayraktar brought her case to the Constitutional Court. The court examined the case and found that the university had misinterpreted the relevant law, specifically the Higher Education Law No. 2547, in conjunction with the State Employees Law No. 657. The court noted:
"The phrase 'in addition to acts stipulated in the State Employees Law No. 657' has been misinterpreted in this context.
The Constitutional Court concluded that the disciplinary measures against Bayraktar did not meet the legality requirement and violated her freedom of expression as protected under Article 26 of the Constitution.
To remedy the violation, the court ordered that the case be referred back to the Ankara 16th Administrative Court for a retrial and awarded Bayraktar 20,000 Turkish liras in moral damages. (HA/VK)
