Justice Minister Gürlek: We will establish liaison offices in İzmir, Ankara, and Istanbul

Justice Minister Akın Gürlek met with members of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) Justice Committee at an iftar program. Speaking at the program, Minister Gürlek pointed to the role of the legislative body in the field of law, stating, "The TBMM Justice Committee represents the will of the legislative body in the field of law. In particular, the regulations handled within the TBMM Justice Committee determine the direction of the judicial system. I thank our committee members for their valuable work."

Touching upon the Ministry of Justice's reform documents and action plans, Minister Gürlek said, "The reform documents and action plans we have put forward aim to strengthen the rule of law. We are constantly building our laws and our existing achievements upon this with new action plans and new reform documents. In this context, as a Ministry, our colleagues provide technical support to our deputies in the law-making process. As the Ministry of Justice General Directorate of Legislation, we provide technical support to our deputies on this matter."

Pointing to the efforts to strengthen public trust in the justice system, Justice Minister Gürlek stated, "With the laws we have enacted, many important gains have been achieved regarding the consolidation of public trust in the justice system, the increase of legal security and legal predictability, the acceleration of trials, and especially the more effective use of alternative dispute resolution methods."

"We are actively monitoring the problems our women face"

Making evaluations regarding the fight against violence against women and the 12th Judicial Package, Minister Gürlek said, "Effective methods of combating violence against women, in particular, have been determined by recently enacted laws. We are actively monitoring some of the problems our victimized women face. We plan to make specific regulations regarding these in our 12th Judicial Package and bring them before our deputies."

"We aim to conduct a study to investigate the events that lead children to violence"

Touching upon the work regarding children driven to crime, Minister Gürlek said, "There is the concept of children driven to crime. Unfortunately, the concept of a child has changed in this regard. That is, the factors that push our children to violence need to be investigated. We have established a platform together with the Ministry of Family and Social Services and the Ministry of National Education. We aim to conduct a study together with both the Ministry of Family and Social Services and our Ministry of National Education to investigate the events that lead children to violence, starting from their education or family structure."

"We have an idea about children driven to crime serving their full sentences"

Stating that they will take steps to break the perception of impunity in society regarding crimes involving children, Minister Gürlek said, "We have an idea about children driven to crime serving their full sentences. A commission has already been established in our Parliament on this matter. All of these need to be put on the table together. We will take steps to break the perception of impunity in society regarding crimes involving children. Our goal is to put forward regulations that have a practical counterpart and produce concrete improvements."

"We will establish a liaison office in İzmir, Ankara, and Istanbul"

Touching upon the work initiated before the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK), Minister Gürlek stated that there is a Judicial Efficiency and Productivity Bureau within the HSK, and said, "We will establish a projection, that is, a liaison office, in İzmir, Ankara, and Istanbul as well. We have designated these provinces as pilots. Primarily, we will look at whether the target time has been exceeded or not. If the target time has been exceeded and no decision has been issued for the file, we will start investigating the reasons for this. We will also use artificial intelligence. In particular, the most complained-about issues and which issues citizens are dissatisfied with regionally will emerge. If it is a reason stemming from the judge or because the court is too busy, the HSK will see this instantly. It will intervene there. It will either open a new court or assign a new judge. If the delay in the case is caused by the judge, we will apply the HSK's promotion, appointment, or reassignment penalties more effectively in this regard. This will find a response in our society and provide benefits. There is no need for any change in the law here."

News Source: 12punto