The Constitutional Court has ruled that the unnotified monitoring and recording of prisoners' phone calls and visits constitutes a rights violation. The decision was published in the Official Gazette on Jan 19.
Prisoners initially filed administrative appeals, arguing that the surveillance of conversations with their relatives violated their freedom of communication and the right to respect for private and family life.
The Justice Ministry rejected these applications. Following the rejection, the prisoners appealed to penal enforcement judges and heavy penal courts. After these efforts failed to yield results, they brought the matter to the Constitutional Court through individual applications.
In its ruling, the high court found that while the law allowing for such monitoring has defined limits, prisons have been listening to inmates indefinitely without providing a specific reason or notification.
The court also pointed out that the judicial authorities responsible for auditing the legality of the practice exhibited a "faulty approach." The ruling noted that these authorities treated the surveillance as a general, routine, and continuous method, concluding that prisons possessed discretionary power in the matter.
The high court indicated that the practice was carried out without considering the nature of visitation rights. It noted that a fair balance was not established between the freedom of communication and the right to respect for private and family life.
The court further noted that interventions conducted for crime prevention and institutional security must comply with the requirements of a democratic social order.
The decision was reached unanimously, concluding that such practices in their current form violate fundamental rights and freedoms. (AB/VK)
