Constitutional Court to review trustee appointments on the merits

The Istanbul 9th Administrative Court had applied to the Constitutional Court on the grounds that the relevant paragraph of the Municipal Law was unconstitutional in a case filed for the annulment of the removal of Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer from office and the appointment of a trustee in his place. The application requests the annulment of the regulation that provides for the appointment of trustees to replace mayors who are being tried or arrested on terrorism charges.

DEFICIENCIES IDENTIFIED IN INITIAL REVIEW

The Constitutional Court has completed its initial review of the application and identified certain deficiencies. The court rejected a portion of the application due to the lack of jurisdiction of the Administrative Court. Furthermore, it did not take that part of the regulation under substantive review on the grounds that the reasons for the unconstitutionality of the second sentence of the regulation were not clearly stated.

The court decided to proceed with a substantive review of the provision that stipulates the appointment of a replacement by the Minister of Interior in the event that a mayor is removed from office due to terrorism-related crimes. Once the deficiencies are addressed, the request for the annulment of the regulation will be reviewed on its merits and a decision will be reached.

News Source: 12punto