Turkey has a problem with the right to a fair trial, Constitutional Court president admits

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Turkey has an issue with the right to a fair trial and has to solve this, Constitutional Court President Zühtü Arslan said today (January 10).

Speaking at a symposium about the principle of equality of arms in the capital city of Ankara, Arslan said, "We encounter this principle the most in criminal proceedings in order to prevent the defense from weakening against the prosecution.

"As emphasized in Constitutional Court verdicts, the principle of equality of arms does not allow the creation of a legal situation against the defendant. A democratic rule of law requires the right of defense to be guaranteed in criminal proceedings."

However, Arslan noted, a large majority of applications to the top court have been about the right to a fair trial.

More than 73 percent of the 66,121 individual applications to the court and 77 percent about all verdicts the court has given concerned the right to a fair trial, he said.

"We have an issue with the right to a fair trial. And this is our common duty to solve this problem," Aslan remarked, adding that the Constitutional Court's evaluations about the right to a fair trial in bot norwm reviews and individual applications should be taken into consideration by both administrative and judicial authorities.

"In a country where the right to a fair trial is not protected and violations are not prevented, it is not possible to protect and operate the rule of law with all its institutions and rules," he further said.

Constitutional Court verdicts

According to the Constitutional Court figures about individual applications where the top court found a rights violation, 62.5 percent of the verdicts were about the violation of the right to a fair trial, 19.1 percent was about the violation of the right to property and 4.2 percent was about the violation of freedom of expression.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) verdicts against Turkey were also about the violation of the right to a fair trial.

Between 1959 and 2020, the European court ruled in 953 cases that Turkey had violated the right to a fair trial. (AS/VK)