Justice Minister Tunç announces: The era of judge and prosecutor assistantship begins

Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç announced that the period of judge and prosecutor candidacy has ended and the era of judge and prosecutor assistantship has begun. Stating that the first exams are being held today and tomorrow, Tunç said, "There will no longer be a judge and prosecutor candidacy institution."

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Justice Minister Tunç announces: The era of judge and prosecutor assistantship begins

The 12th Annual Evaluation Meeting of Penal Institutions, organized by the General Directorate of Prisons and Detention Houses, began at the ATGV Training and Social Facilities in Aksu district with the participation of Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç and General Director of Prisons and Detention Houses Enis Yavuz Yıldırım.

Speaking at the meeting held between December 23-26 with the theme "Penal Execution System in the Century of Turkey," Chief Public Prosecutor Zafer Koç said that they feel the justified pride of seeing the high level that penal institutions have reached, which is modern and in line with the requirements of the age, thanks to the reforms made in the last 21 years.

Minister Tunç stated that they are not content with this and said, "We continue our efforts to constantly pursue better. In this context, we want the Century of Turkey to be the Century of Justice, as it is in every field. In this sense, our entire organization, with all its institutions and affiliated organizations under the Ministry of Justice, continues its work in a great mobilization for the century of justice."

THE INSTITUTION OF JUDGE AND PROSECUTOR ASSISTANTSHIP IS COMING

Stating that the judgeship and prosecutorship exams began on December 23-24, Minister Tunç said that a total of 1,000 judge and prosecutor assistant candidates, including 800 for judicial judiciary, 100 for transitions from legal practice, and 100 for administrative judiciary, will be sweating it out for 2 days.

Explaining that instead of the 2-year judge and prosecutor candidacy, there will now be a 3-year judge and prosecutor assistantship period, Tunç said, "This is a new practice. It was enacted in the previous judicial package, and as of the effective date, we are holding the first exam today and tomorrow. There will no longer be a judge and prosecutor candidacy institution.

There will be a judge and prosecutor assistantship institution. It will not last 2 years, it will last 3 years. They will receive strong training at the Justice Academy for 1 year, they will also pass intermediate exams there, and then they will work as assistants alongside our experienced judges and prosecutors for 2 years. They will not sign judicial decisions, but while assisting our experienced judges and prosecutors, they will have started the profession strongly within a master-apprentice relationship," he said.

"IT IS USEFUL TO STATE THAT THE EXECUTION STAGE PERFORMS A GREAT DUTY"

Emphasizing that the 3 stages of the criminal justice system—investigation, prosecution, and execution—must proceed without interruption for justice to be served, Minister Tunç reiterated that they attach great importance to these 3 stages.

Tunç stated that the execution stage must be carried out in accordance with laws, regulations, and human dignity and rights, and said, "It is useful to state that the execution stage performs a great duty in terms of reintegrating the offender into society and protecting society from crime, both in terms of the sanction that is the equivalent of the act committed, i.e., serving the sentence, and at the same time, the processes aimed at reintegrating the offender into society while serving that sentence, and subsequently preventing that person from committing a crime again and reintegrating them into society."

"WE CLOSED 392 PENAL INSTITUTIONS THAT DID NOT MEET OUR STANDARDS"

Noting that they have taken very important steps in the last 21 years regarding the improvement of the criminal justice system and the legislation and implementation of the investigation, prosecution, and execution system, Tunç continued his speech as follows:

"First of all, we have renewed all of our basic laws regarding the criminal justice system. We have updated and made many of our basic legislations, such as our Turkish Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code, Penal Execution Code, Misdemeanors Law, and Child Protection Law, suitable for the needs of the day.

We can now say that we have one of the newest, most contemporary criminal legislations in the world, which is even followed by these countries. Within the framework of this basic legislation, we have implemented and continue to implement applications with sub-regulations.

In addition, we continue our activities regarding penal institutions in a way that is suitable for human dignity, with the thought that the convicts are entrusted to the state. As a result of our contemporary execution approach that focuses on touching people and winning them over, we closed prisons with inadequate physical conditions. In their place, we have implemented contemporary penal institutions that are suitable for human needs, where educational activities are carried out, where there are vocational training centers, schools, production-oriented activities through workhouses, and which are equipped with libraries. In this context, we have closed 392 penal institutions that did not meet our standards since 2002. We will continue to improve our penal institutions from now on."

Pointing out that they continue to bring innovative and digital technologies to the justice system with applications such as SEGBİS, the Project for the Integration of Smart Technologies into Penal Institutions (ACEP), and the Individualized Personnel Training System (BİPES), Minister Tunç said the following:

"The ministry communication application, which we will implement soon within the scope of the ACEP Project, will be the application where we most clearly demonstrate our self-confidence. With the application, convicts will be able to report a situation or complaint in the prison directly to the ministry, without any intermediary, via voice, video, or in writing, without needing any personnel and without being subject to any supervision.

This application, in addition to showing the self-confidence that the penal execution system has reached, will provide an important guarantee that has no equal in the world in the field of protecting human rights and dignity. Our convict will convey their complaint directly to our ministry without any intermediary. These complaints will be evaluated, the nature of the request and the allegation will be examined, and consultations will be held with you. The infrastructure work for the application has been completed, and we will activate it in a short time."

Stating that they came together with the general directorate managers and institution managers to evaluate the past year and discuss the disruptions and problems encountered in practice at the meeting, General Director of Prisons and Detention Houses Enis Yavuz Yıldırım emphasized that their most fundamental goals are to ensure that the convicts and detainees, whose sentences or precautionary decisions have been issued by the courts, return to society as useful individuals during their time in penal institutions, and to ensure that they hold onto life by increasing their education and equipment, rather than letting the time they spend in the institution be lost time, with an approach based on the human and human dignity.

Antalya Chief Public Prosecutor Zafer Koç also noted that the main purpose of the execution of criminal and security measures is not only to have the convicts serve the sentences given to them, but also to strengthen the factors that prevent them from committing crimes again, to protect society against crime, to encourage the re-socialization of the convict, and to facilitate their adaptation to a productive, law-abiding, rule-abiding, and responsible lifestyle.

News Source: İHA