Traffic Courts Must Be Established for Justice

Date, November 30, 2023. Finally, in front of everyone's eyes... The car of Mohammed Hassan Shekh Mohamud, the son of the Somali leader, hit a motorcycle courier, Yunus Emre Göçer. Yunus Emre Göçer died as a result of the accident. We watched the camera footage. The incident turned into an international scandal. As in many cases where the perpetrator or the victim is a foreigner, justice was delayed, and the scandal escalated. This situation led to national outrage. Then, as always, we surrendered to coffeehouse chatter with the smugness and indifference of ''this is Turkey anyway... there is no justice in Turkey.'' Our hearts were broken. Justice was delayed, it did not function; the perpetrator fled.

Date, December 15, 2023, in the afternoon. The Ankara Courthouse echoed with screams and slogans. The Courthouse felt heavier than ever. The terrible burden of injustice rested on the shoulders of Hürcan Bulur's family, relatives, and friends... The perpetrator of the incident was released. Our pain and astonishment are indescribable.

It is certain that our country is failing in justice. But what is the point of stomping on this, uttering these platitudes and opening the door to hopelessness, or pushing the entire solution beyond an imaginary and future revolution?

A SOLUTION ATTEMPT

There is no universal rule regarding legal policy and the structure of the judiciary. Some practices worldwide can gain general acceptance. However, there is no need to take these as ready-made templates.

As a requirement of the rule of law, justice must be provided by the state in a fair, fast, and manner consistent with universal principles and procedures of law. It is possible to say that there is a general consensus on this matter.

Our views on the justice mechanism in our country may conflict, and we may not reach a consensus. But this is indisputable: Justice in Turkey never arrives on time.

The biggest reason for the delay in justice is that our judicial personnel and judicial procedures are insufficient to handle the number of legal disputes. Moreover, if the law were fully complied with, we would probably not even reach half of our current speed.

Thanks to UYAP and similar platforms, the speed of litigation has increased significantly. We are far ahead of many countries in this regard.

However, this speed is a gain related to procedure. Otherwise, many stages of litigation (for example, expert examinations or objections made to these examinations due to distrust of expert reports in matters requiring expertise) have not accelerated.

For a time, expert examinations could be requested even on legal matters. Fortunately, this mistake was corrected. The judge's ability to apply to an expert on a legal matter was eliminated.

It is, of course, natural to expect a judge to know the law. However, since the scope of the law is infinitely broad and the complexity of modern life increases day by day, it is not possible for a single person to apply the law to every field.

There are specialized courts for certain areas of law. These largely require a judge quality directly proportional to seniority and expertise specific to that field. We also have very competent judges in this regard.

However, since it is becoming increasingly difficult to grasp the complexity of life and the delay of justice in some areas causes even more severe destruction, there is a need for a special trial procedure for these areas and, ultimately, courts specific to this field.

There are a very large number of case types and cases arising from traffic accidents. Traffic accidents have dimensions related to insurance law, criminal law, labor law, and even international law.

The high number of traffic accidents is also known to all of us. The failure to resolve cases arising from traffic accidents, their prolongation, or the rendering of erroneous decisions poses a danger to public order.

Our young people have been victims of traffic accidents. The negligence, errors in the accident, and doubts in the trial process are as clear as day. As such, decisions that do not soothe the public conscience can easily be made. We, as a nation, witnessed the accident caused by the Somali President's son and the subsequent events.

These are the most tragic news.

In addition to these, with depreciation cases, material and moral compensation cases, and insurance cases, the queues for justice are getting longer and longer.

It takes months to complete files that could be resolved in hours with today's technology. As such, we are consuming the time and energy of the trial process, which should focus on issues where technology cannot suffice.

Without ignoring human rights and freedoms, and even by cherishing them, we must quickly resolve the problems arising from traffic accidents by utilizing all the possibilities of technology. The public conscience must be soothed as soon as possible.

Otherwise, rumors worse than the event itself will be spread, and these allegations will never be answered properly. Our judges will either not be able to make decisions with peace of mind, or the trial will take a very, very long time.

In the incident I mentioned above, according to the available reports, a vehicle traveling at 160 km/h hits a young person crossing the pedestrian crossing and causes the young person's death. This fact is proven by evidence. As such, the perpetrator of the crime is released. You cannot explain this ''legal'' decision to anyone anywhere in the world. I am trying to do so. I cannot succeed. One must give up either reason, law, or humanity. If we are still going to insist on reason, law, and humanity, and if we are to say that these events should not happen, we must take precautions without wasting time.

The state should establish a criminal policy on this matter and, not stopping there, take measures to ensure that the trial of such cases proceeds soundly and quickly. If the state cannot respond to the cry for justice, injustice becomes the norm, and ultimately everyone tries to provide their own justice. The result is either chaos or tyranny. We know tyranny a little. But do we want to live in total tyranny or chaos? If we don't want to, what is necessary must be done. Justice must not be delayed.