A swearing-in ceremony for the newly-elected Justice, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Metin Kıratlı, and the Symposium on the 12^th Anniversary of the Individual Application Mechanism were held at the Grand Tribunal Hall of the Constitutional Court. The ceremony was attended by President of the Republic of Türkiye Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of the Council of State Mr. Zeki Yiğit, Minister of Justice Mr. Yılmaz Tunç, members of the high judiciary, and other distinguished guests.

President Mr. Kadir Özkaya congratulated Mr. Kıratlı on his appointment and wished him success in his new role. He expressed his hope that Mr. Kıratlı’s tenure as a justice would be auspicious for himself, his family, the Court, and the nation.

Celebrating the new judicial year of the judiciary, which started on 2 September 2024, President Özkaya expressed his sincere belief that members of the judiciary would make great effort to satisfy the demand for justice in the country also throughout this judicial year. He further underlined that justice was a sine qua non for ensuring welfare, domestic peace, prosperity and safety of the society.

“All judicial endeavours strive to administer justice.”

President Özkaya stated that judges and prosecutors, as the primary actors in judicial activities, must never forget that they bear the greatest responsibility for upholding the rule of law and administering justice. He emphasised the necessity for judges and prosecutors to adjudicate freely and impartially without hesitation or concern, albeit within the framework prescribed by positive law, as well as in the absence of any external influence, including their own subjective feelings and thoughts. He continued, “The most important guarantee of the principles and values underpinning our constitutional identity is the existence of an independent and impartial judiciary which can only be ensured with independent and impartial judges.”

“The one who prospers through oppression will have a disastrous end.”

President Kadir Özkaya stated, “The oppression around the world, especially in Gaza, the violations of human rights and freedoms, and the inhuman treatment against oppressed and victimized people, especially children and women, must not be ignored by turning a blind eye or closing our hearts.” and called for immediate response to these injustices with courage and fairness, without any distinction based on race, religion, language, or colour, emphasising that such response was an inevitable consequence of being human and a vital moral obligation.

President Özkaya also reminded that those who oppressed, supported oppressors, or turned a blind eye to these injustices would inevitably face the consequences of their actions in due time, and pointed out that the common future of humanity and enduring peace could only be achieved through ensuring the prevalence of justice on earth.

“Rights and freedoms constitute the cornerstone of democracy.”

President Özkaya underscored the vital importance of safeguarding human rights and freedoms in democratic societies governed by the rule of law. He further emphasised that constitutional courts, through constitutional review, contributed to the achievement of the common purpose of upholding justice for both individuals and the state in democratic societies. In this regard, Özkaya presented statistics on the Court’s related judgments in terms of concrete and abstract review of constitutionality as well as individual application.

“The Constitutional Court has been entrusted with the mission of protecting and promoting rights and freedoms through the individual application mechanism.”

President Özkaya, stressing the vital role of the Court in fulfilling its mandate to protect and promote rights and freedoms, underlined that the supreme court has rendered thousands of judgments on fundamental rights, including but not limited to the right to life, freedom of expression, right to property, and freedom of association. He further reiterated the significant decrease in the number of applications lodged with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against Türkiye, as well as the number of violation judgments rendered by the ECHR against Türkiye following the introduction of the individual application mechanism. Özkaya also expressed his stance on the need to preserve the individual application mechanism and its current effectiveness, as a requirement of the consensus reached by the society on its absolute necessity.

President Özkaya also provided details regarding the criteria employed by the Court in determining the order of examining the applications received, noting that certain criteria and the date of receipt of the applications -in line with the principle of “first come, first served”- were largely respected in the order of examination. Referring to the due diligence and great effort by the Court to ensure the prompt communication to the relevant parties or publication in the Official Gazette of the judgments, President Özkaya stated, “The Constitutional Court strives to contribute to the values such as justice, the rule of law, and fundamental rights and freedoms, to satisfy the sense of justice of individuals and institutions, and to foster their confidence in the state and the law.”

Ending his speech, President Özkaya extended his thanks to the current and former vice-presidents, justices, rapporteur-judges and administrative staff who contributed to the Court so far and wished for a successful and fruitful symposium to be held on the occasion of the anniversary of the introduction of the individual application mechanism.

Following President Özkaya’s remarks, the ceremony proceeded with the presentation of the curriculum vitae of the newly-elected Justice Assoc. Prof. Dr. Metin Kıratlı, who then took his oath. Afterwards, Mr. Kıratlı was vested with his robe by President Özkaya.

The Symposium held on the occasion of the 12^th anniversary of the introduction of the individual application mechanism, titled “Right to an Effective Remedy within the scope of the Principle of Subsidiarity of the Individual Application”, was attended by a large number of judges, public prosecutors and academics.

The first session of the symposium, which was held in three sessions on 12 September 2024 at the Grand Tribunal Hall of the Court, with the theme “Right to an Effective Remedy against the Acts and Actions of Penitentiary Institutions” was moderated by Prof. Dr. Saadet Yüksel, Judge of the ECHR. Mr. Muhammed Kerem Çömez, Magistrate Judge of the Ankara Western Courthouse (former execution judge), Dr. Ömer Emrullah Egeliği, Lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the Turkish-German University, and Mr. Hüseyin Kaya, Rapporteur-Judge of the Constitutional Court, contributed to the first session with their presentations.

The second session on “Right to an Effective Remedy in terms of Protection Measures” was moderated by Mr. Ahmet Er, President of the 12^th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation. In this session, presentations were made by Mr. Samet Nazlıoğlu, Judge at the Court of Cassation, Mr. Sönmez Öztürk, Lawyer at the ECHR, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Turan, Rapporteur-Judge of the Constitutional Court.

In the third session on “Right to an Effective Remedy in Matters Related to Removal Centres” which was moderated by Mr. İbrahim Topuz, President of the 10^th Chamber of the Council of State, Mr. Cemil Hulusi Parlak, Member of the 10^th Administrative Chamber of the Ankara Regional Administrative Court, Dr. Halit Uyanık, Lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the İstanbul University, and Mr. Murat İlter Deveci, Rapporteur-Judge of the Court, made presentations.

Following the Question and Answer session, the closing remarks of the Symposium were delivered by Mr. Hasan Tahsin Gökcan, Vice-President of the Constitutional Court.

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

Click to watch the speech delivered by President Kadir Özkaya.

Click to watch the Symposium on the 12^th Anniversary of the Individual Application Mechanism on the YouTube page of the Constitutional Court.