Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) Mehmet Yılmaz has denied a previously made statement and said confessor prosecutors and judges will not be allowed return to their posts in the Justice Ministry. “No worries. The HSYK will not return anyone who avails themselves of the Effective Repentance Law to duty again. Our board is determined on this issue,” said Yılmaz, speaking to columnist Sevilay Yükselir. Thousands of judges and prosecutors have been suspended by the HSYK while many have been detained or arrested on the grounds that they have links to the Gülen movement, which is accused by the Turkish government of masterminding a failed…

Is the ECtHR taking it’s task to fight against violation of Human Rights serious or just trying to avoiding a flood of appeals ? 1. The Summary of the Decision and the Application: 1.1. In its decision in the case of Zihni v. Turkey, the European Court of Human Rights has unanimously declared the application inadmissible which presents great importance for many individuals dismissed from their duty by the emergency legislative decree no.672. 1.2. In its decision, in summary, the Court rejected the application for non-exhaustion of domestic remedies. 1.3. The Court noted in its decision that Mr Zihni had an obligation to make use of the domestic judicial remedies…

Outrageous. Shall we be upset or furious ? #TurkeyHandcuffed judges!@VeniceComm @EAJ_AEM_ERV @Judges4J @ChRegnard @KatiPiri @JunckerEU @eucopresident @coe https://t.co/lJb3E34afL — Aylin Özçelik (@Aylinozcelik3) 26. Dezember 2016

TURKEY OPINION ON EMERGENCY DECREE LAWS NOS. 667 – 676 ADOPTED FOLLOWING THE FAILED COUP OF 15 JULY 2016 Adopted by the Venice Commission at its 109th Plenary Session (Venice, 9 – 10 December 2016) To help distribute this very important message I’m posting not only the link to the original message  but the opinion as a whole:

ENCJ votes to suspend the Turkish High Council for Judges and Prosecutors To help distribute this very important message I’m posting not only the link to the original message but the message as a whole: The ENCJ unites the national institutions in the Member States of the European Union which are independent of the executive and legislature, and which are responsible for the support of the Judiciaries in the independent delivery of justice.  It aims to improve cooperation between, and good mutual understanding amongst, the Councils for the Judiciary and the members of the Judiciary of the European Union (or candidate) Member States. It is a condition of membership, and for the…

Press release – DC191(2016) Turkey had good reasons to declare the state of emergency but went too far with the emergency measures: Venice Commission To help distribute this very important message I’m posting not only the link to the original message but the press release as a whole:     Venice, 09.12.2016 – An opinion adopted today by the Council of Europe’s constitutional law experts – the Venice Commission– concludes that Turkish authorities had been confronted “with a dangerous armed conspiracy” and had “good reasons” to declare the state of emergency, but that measures taken by the Government went beyond what is permitted by the Turkish Constitution and by international…

Preliminary remark: CHIEF PROSECUTOR HUSEYIN BAS IS IN CELL NOW! NOTE: the Investigation mentioned in the following minutes refer to those conducted regarding the harbor corruption in which the name of current Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım’s wife´s sister’s husband is also involved. Comment: HERE IS THE EVIDENCE FOR THE STRONG POLITICAL PRESSURE OF EXECUTIVES (RULING ERDOGAN’S AKP GOVERNMENT) ON JUDICIARY. AS OF TODAY, THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, RECORDING THIS MINUTE, IS HELD UNDER ARREST. THE UNDERSECRETARY OF MINISTRY OF JUSTICE CALLS THE PROVINCE OF İZMİR CHIEF PUBLIC PROSECUTOR… The minutes,  recorded by the Province of İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor, Hüseyin Baş, on January  7, 2014 and attached to the official letter, denouncing the…

Due to the importance of the information and for helping spread it, the full text of the Preliminary observations and recommendations of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, Mr. Nils Melzer on the Official visit to Turkey – 27 November to 2 December 2016 are published here not only with a link to the original message but in full lenght. Ankara, 2 December 2016 I. Introduction At the invitation of the Government, I visited Turkey from 27 November to 2 December 2016 to assess the prevailing situation and challenges concerning torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. At…

There are lots of discussions going on further steps that must be followed after the rejection of appeals of over 3000 judges and prosecutors by the HCJP: 1- Go to the Council of State (Danistay) 2- (If # 1 denied) Go to the Constitutional Court for the individual complaint 3- (If #1, and #2 do not work) Go to the ECHR 1) The council of state already decided on some judges’ cases. The council held that it has no jurisdiction over these cases on the basis of the fact that the dismissals are not the one regulated by the Law on Judges and Prosecutors, this one is ” extraordinary measure”.…

1. The Ankara prosecution office has launched an investigation against 192 judges and prosecutors more with the same accusations. http://www.diken.com.tr/darbe-girisimi-192-hakim-ve-savci-hakkinda-feto-uyeliginden-sorusturma/ 2. The High Council, HSYK, refused the appeals of 3200 judges and prosecutors, which had applied to be reinstated before. However, those applications were rejected without any explanation/legal ground. The decision just includes all of the names, no exception. Even a single judge has not been reinstated to the job, all were rejected. Click to access karar(3).pdf

ECtHR, DEUXIÈME SECTION DÉCISION Requête no 56511/16 Zeynep MERCAN contre la Turquie,  An application concerning the lawfulness of a judge’s pre-trial detention following the coup d’état of 15 July 2016 has been rejected for failure to exhaust domestic remedies In its decision in the case of Mercan v. Turkey (application no. 56511/16) the European Court of Human Rights has unanimously declared the application inadmissible. The decision is final. The case concerned the pre-trial detention of a judge who was dismissed from office following the attempted coup d’état of 15 July 2016. The Court held, in particular, that Ms Mercan was required to lodge an individual application with the Constitutional Court with regard to…

AKP targets judicial independence in latest post-coup takedown by Sibel Hürtaş* ( Source:  http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/en/originals/2016/11/turkey-silenced-critical-judges.html Turkish and English Version) The Association of Judges and Prosecutors (YARSAV), the first nongovernmental organization of judiciary members in Turkey, was dissolved and its chairman landed behind bars after the July 15 coup attempt. Following the closure order, part of the first emergency-rule decree issued soon after the putsch, the Justice Ministry sent letters of the international bodies to which YARSAV was a member, asking them to admit as its replacement a group with ties to the government. The move is yet another example of Ankara’s tactic of disabling critical institutions and replacing them with pro-government ones. YARSAV’s case is especially ironic…

Quelques reflexions interessante de Nicolas Bueno sur la notion de la démocratie dans sa thèse “Le droit de prendre son destin en main – le droit international e la démocratie et l’avenir des droits politiques, Diss. Lausanne 2014, Stämpfli Editions 2015:   “[..] D’une part, la démocratie ne se résume pas à la tenure d’élections. D’autre part, la démocratie est une question de degré et non de genre. La démocratie dépend en effet du degré auquel les individus peuvent contrôler les décisions publiques et du degré auquel les individus sont égaux lorsqu’ils exercent ce contrôle.   Ceci étant dit, le lien entre la démocratie et les droits de l’homme est…

PROSECUTOR SEYFETTIN YIGIT WHO WAS FOUND DEAD IN PRISON WAS BLACKLISTED AS OPPONENT BY THE YBP IN 2014 Prosecutor Seyfettin Yigit who died in prison after suspicious suicide(!) blacklisted as opponent by pro-government Judges Association (YBP). It was told that he was found hanging in the prison bathroom on Sept. 16. Seyfettin Yiğit was among those prosecutors who oversaw an investigation into allegations of irregularities within the Housing Development Administration of Turkey (TOKI) in late 2013.   Sources: http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/turkiye/601374/_FETO_den_tutuklanip_cezaevinde_olu_bulunan_savcinin_kizi__Bu_intihar_degil__cinayet.html http://www.turkeytms.com/2016/09/16/another-inmate-a-prosecutor-found-dead-in-turkish-prison/ http://turkeypurge.com/suspicious-deaths-suicides-become-common-occurrence-in-post-coup-turkey   Please find attached the the page of the YBP List

  Author: anonymous for security reasons (identity known to the blog editor)

Could you please share the info with both amnesty international and human rights watch: The government is seriously planning to get rid of many inmates. I know that sounds crazy. Today, the number of people who committed “suicide(!)” in jail has reached  22. This is impossible!!! X. (Judge from Turkey)

  P.S.: Why were Yarsav candidates no real competition? YARSAV, as an institution means a lot for Turkish judiciary. YARSAV is the only independent Judicial association, the voice of the judiciary at both national and international platforms. YARSAV has a strong institutional culture and experience and its reputation arises from its activities. Judges and the public know YARSAV very well but they dont know much about its administration and members by names. YARSAV’s public remarks have been signed like this ” the Board of Directors” without names. In 2010 and in 2014 YARSAV’s candidates did not get remarkable number of votes. In terms of HSYK elections Yarsav does not pose serious threat to the…