8th Judicial Package: Awareness of Seeking Rights

The failure to conclude cases within a reasonable time and the excessive duration of trials negate the right to a fair trial. Far from implementing the right to a fair trial, the judiciary operates in a structure that renders this right ineffective. However, for many years, political administrations have failed to find a solution to the problem of cases not being concluded within a reasonable time. Especially if we add the politicization of the judiciary and its loss of independence in recent years, the situation becomes truly unbearable for the citizen. These obstacles and malfunctions in the functioning of the judiciary corrupt society. It does not just diminish trust in the judiciary; it virtually destroys it. Trust in the judiciary among citizens has eroded to such an extent that when looking for a lawyer for their case, they aim to find not a knowledgeable lawyer, but a lawyer who has connections within the judiciary. 

The failure to conclude cases within a reasonable time, the politicization of the judiciary, and the damage to judicial independence cause a major collapse and decay both in international relations and in relations between citizens. The decline in trust in the judiciary results in foreign investors not investing in the country. Entrepreneurs feel they lack legal security in an environment of unreliable judicial relations and avoid investing in Turkey.

Sadly, this situation in the judiciary has never been corrected. Political administrations have failed to solve the judicial problem. The problem has grown steadily and has reached this point. 

What will happen now? What will happen now is this: The citizen will take responsibility. First and foremost, the citizen's awareness of seeking rights must be at the necessary level. And there is a great need for the struggle of citizens who have the courage to seek their rights in this regard. Impressive courthouse buildings and imposing judges sitting on benches should not fear the citizens. The judiciary owes its existence to the citizens. 

Awareness of seeking rights comes from knowing and applying the means of seeking rights. Great duties fall upon lawyers and bar associations in this regard. The mentality of "let it not touch me, let it live for a thousand years" can make Turkey unlivable. It is necessary to escalate the struggle for rights against both the political administration and the judicial institution. There is a great need for citizen solidarity in this regard. For whatever reason, the rule of law and the right to a fair trial cannot be ignored.

In the event that the trial process is not completed within a reasonable time, those whose rights are affected by judicial proceedings have the right to compensation. We need to know this law well to seek our rights. First of all, we need to know the working principles of the compensation commission well.

According to Article 4 of Law No. 6384, the compensation commission works according to the following principles: 

1- A Commission consisting of nine people appointed by the Minister of Justice from among judges and prosecutors working in the central organization of the Ministry and its affiliated and related institutions shall be established to make decisions regarding applications to be made within the scope of this Law.

2- The President of the Commission shall be determined by the Minister of Justice from among these members. 

3- The Commission may also work in panels consisting of three members depending on the workload.

 4- The presidents of the panels shall be determined by the Minister of Justice; the formation of the panels, the members who will replace each other in their absence, and the division of labor shall be determined by the President. The President is responsible for the efficient and harmonious work of the Commission and the panels.

5- Without prejudice to the provision of Article 9, no other duties shall be assigned to the Commission members until the applications are concluded.

6- The Commission shall convene with a minimum of seven members, and the panels shall convene with their full number of members; decisions shall be taken by an absolute majority of the total number of members.

7- The secretariat services of the Commission shall be carried out by the Ministry.

8- Public institutions and organizations and judicial authorities are obliged to send to the Commission without delay all kinds of information and documents needed within the scope of the Commission's duty.

9- In the evaluation of the application and supporting documents and in determining the amount of compensation to be awarded, the Commission is authorized to conduct the necessary investigations or have one of its members conduct them, or to request an expert examination from the Chief Public Prosecutor's Offices.

10- The expenses of the Commission shall be covered by the Ministry's budget.

The Commission established by Law No. 6384 and individual applications to the Constitutional Court, which were added to domestic legal remedies to prevent individuals from applying to the ECHR with the claim that various provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights have been violated and to improve Turkey's record in the international arena, may cause new legal problems and injustices by seriously delaying the application process to the ECHR. However, it is observed that the independence of judicial bodies has been seriously weakened, the principle of separation of powers has been damaged, and the persons working in judicial bodies do not show enough care in understanding the applications before them and are not in an effort to apply the existing legal provisions to the legal conflict reflected to them with sufficient care. This situation increases the number of individual application files before the ECHR from Turkey.

Unless Turkey improves its domestic judicial bodies in terms of effective and fair trial and providing legal satisfaction in its judicial places, ensures the independence of judicial bodies, and remains respectfully committed to the principle of separation of powers, it is impossible to reduce the number of individual application files before the ECHR with regulations like Law No. 6384. 

For both the right to individual application to the Constitutional Court and the applications made to the Commission established by Law No. 6384 to produce good-faith results, the people who carry their applications to these places must be legally satisfied. If this cannot be ensured, these two paths that have been opened will serve no purpose other than delaying the times for individuals to go to the ECHR due to the legal injustices they have suffered and damaging the trust felt towards the state and the law in the eyes of those who have suffered legal injustice. Such a result, instead of improving Turkey's record before the ECHR and international legal institutions, will produce results that damage the relationship of trust, on the contrary. In this respect, it is very important that both the Constitutional Court and the Commission established by Law No. 6384 carry out work that is truly impartial and adopts universal law as their motto in the direction of treating individuals fairly.