Paylaş | 14 May 2024

62nd Anniversary and Swearing-in Ceremony were Held at the Turkish Constitutional Court

The 62nd anniversary of the establishment of the Turkish Constitutional Court and the swearing-in ceremony for the newly-elected justice, Mr. Ömer Çınar, were held.

The ceremony was attended by President of the Republic of Türkiye Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye Mr. Numan Kurtulmuş, President of the Court of Cassation Mr. Mehmet Akarca, President of the Council of State Mr. Zeki Yiğit, Minister of Justice Mr. Yılmaz Tunç, and members of the high judiciary.

Delivering his speech, President of the Constitutional Court Mr. Kadir Özkaya congratulated the newly-elected Justice Mr. Ömer Çınar and wished him success in his new office. He also expressed his hope that Mr. Çınar’s tenure as a justice would be auspicious for himself, his family, the Court, and the nation.

Recalling that he took over the Presidency, at the discretion of the Plenary of the Court, President Özkaya indicated “I would like to express our belief and determination that we will carry this flag entrusted to us further together with my esteemed colleagues, in the interest of justice, the rule of law, and the protection of human rights and freedoms, which the noble Turkish nation expects from us.” President Özkaya also touched upon the concept of justice, and in this sense, the persons and institutions engaged in the judiciary, as well as the activities of the Court.

Justice is the sine qua non of social life.

Stating that justice was a concept and a moral virtue, having meanings associated with almost every field of social sciences, President Özkaya expressed “Justice is the foundation of the state, which is the organized form of society, and it is the sine qua non of social life. It is a matter of behaviour and action, not just words and discourse. To do something properly is to put everything in its proper place in the most appropriate way.

President Özkaya, stressing that being fair and acting fairly was a characteristic that added the utmost value to people and societies, indicated that if arbitrary desires dominated over justice and the law, order would disappear and oppression would prevail. He continued “The scales of justice should be used to satisfy the just person, not arbitrary desires, by always protecting the rights and the just person. The whole universe benefits from a just person, a just society, a just mind and a just conscience. Accordingly, people and societies should not be prevented from upholding justice for any reason, nor should they be led to act unjustly.

The scales of every judge should weigh the same, without any discrimination, and always correctly.

Indicating that it was primarily incumbent on judges to uphold the law and to ensure justice, President Özkaya emphasised that judges should be as broad and humble as the earth and rely on reason and science while maintaining the dignity of their profession. Noting that judges should never tarnish their personality and conscience, Özkaya added “They should never be prevented from ensuring justice for any reason and should never be led to act unjustly. They should decide freely and impartially, without hesitation, without worry, and without any external influence including their subjective feelings and thoughts in their inner worlds”, thus stressing that independent and impartial judiciary can only be ensured by independent and impartial judges.

Individual application mechanism must be maintained without prejudice to its current functionality.

President Özkaya, recalling that the Constitutional Court was vested by the Constitution with the duty and authority to make the constitutionality review of certain norms and to adjudicate individual applications, noted that there were very few decisions/judgments of the Court that were the subject of public debate. He also added “The Court contributes to the realisation of values such as justice, the rule of law, as well as fundamental rights and freedoms.”

President Özkaya emphasised that the individual application was one of the greatest achievements of our legal system in the hundred-year history of the Republic and shared statistics on the individual application.

Pointing to the debates taking place, and some problems experienced from time to time, in some countries that adopted the individual application mechanism, President Özkaya noted that some measures have been taken to prevent or eliminate these problems in the relevant countries and also added:

“Our society has formed a common opinion on the absolute necessity of the individual application mechanism in its current functionality. As a requirement of this conviction, we consider that the constitutional or legal arrangements that may be introduced should aim to protect the mechanism by maintaining its current functionality. That is because, as of the point we have currently reached, the individual application mechanism with nearly 12-year past has been institutionalised as a means for the Republic, as a democratic state of law based on human rights, to interact with the society and to solve the problems of our people regarding fundamental rights by offering a remedy to several aggrieved parties.”

Principle of separation of powers entails cooperation.

Recalling that the separation of powers entailed a civilised cooperation and division of functions, as laid down in the Constitution, President Özkaya stated “The 'separation' in the principle of separation of powers, which is one of the fundamental constitutional principles, does not actually refer to a complete separation, but rather to the division of functions between constitutional bodies -which are, however, expected to operate in full harmony and cooperation- in order to better fulfil the duties imposed on the State, especially the realisation of fundamental rights and freedoms.”

There is also a need for sound communication between the Constitutional Court and other judicial bodies.

President Özkaya, stating that the supreme courts were obliged to perform the duties imposed on them through the Constitution and the laws, noted that the duties and powers of every supreme court, their functions and the nature of their decisions/judgments were explicitly indicated in the Constitution and the laws. Accordingly, he stated “However, in order to ensure cooperation, order and harmony between the constitutional bodies (the Constitutional Court and other judicial bodies, the legislature and the executive), they are required to act in accordance with the Constitution and the laws, as well as to always maintain sound communication among them, since these bodies are made up of people, which may bring along different approaches, different ideas and conflicts.”

President Özkaya continued his speech by expressing that he could not accept the double standards and hypocrisy shown against the atrocities all over the world, especially in Gaza, and emphasized that the common future of humanity and lasting peace were contingent merely on moral values and justice.

At the end of his speech, President Özkaya extended his thanks to the former presidents, justices, rapporteur-judges and administrative staff who contributed to the Court with their self-sacrificing work so far, as well as the vice-presidents, justices, rapporteur-judges and all staff who have been still working devotedly.

Upon President Kadir Özkaya’s address, the ceremony proceeded with the presentation of the curriculum vitae of the newly-elected Justice Mr. Ömer Çınar, who then took his oath. Mr. Çınar was vested with his robe by President Özkaya.

Following the oath-taking ceremony, a symposium on “Horizontal Effect in the Protection of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms” was organised within the framework of the 62nd Anniversary of the Constitutional Court. In the 1st session of the symposium, “Horizontal Effect in International Law” was discussed. 

Click for the full text of the speech delivered by President Kadir Özkaya.