Ankara 26th Criminal Court of First Instance designated as competent in CHP Convention case

The 5th Criminal Chamber of the Ankara Regional Court of Justice (BAM) has announced its decision regarding a jurisdictional dispute in a public case involving 15 defendants, including names such as Ekrem İmamoğlu, Cemil Tugay, Erkan Aydın, and Rıza Akpolat. The dispute over jurisdiction between the Ankara 26th Criminal Court of First Instance and the Ankara 3rd High Criminal Court, which arose in the case filed against the defendants for alleged violations of the Law on Political Parties No. 2820, has been finalized following a review of the file.

The 5th Criminal Chamber of the Regional Court of Justice, in its assessment conducted in accordance with Article 37 of Law No. 5235, ruled to overturn the decision that the High Criminal Court had jurisdiction and determined that the competent court is the Ankara 26th Criminal Court of First Instance. The ruling stated that for a high criminal court to have jurisdiction, the crime in question must exceed the "jurisdictional limits of a lower criminal court." The 5th Criminal Chamber of the Regional Court of Justice further found the local court's previous 'lack of jurisdiction' decision to be 'devoid of legal merit.'

Furthermore, the text of the decision noted that appeals regarding the overturning of the Ankara 3rd High Criminal Court's June 30, 2025, decision of lack of jurisdiction (decision no. 2025/164) were also evaluated, and it was underscored that following these appeals, the 26th Criminal Court of First Instance is the competent authority.

News Source: İHA