Constitutional Court rules rights violation for HKP! Notable 'authority' detail

The Constitutional Court (AYM) has issued its ruling regarding the claim that the freedom of political organization was violated for the People's Liberation Party (HKP), following the determination that its relevant organizations had automatically ceased to exist for failing to hold provincial and district congresses within the required timeframe.

In its announcement regarding the decision, the Court stated the following:

"THE AUTHORITY TO DECIDE BELONGS TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT"

"The Constitutional Court has previously examined a request for the determination of the automatic dissolution of a political party and the consequent termination of its legal existence. In this decision, the Constitutional Court stated that, pursuant to Law No. 6216 on the Establishment and Trial Procedures of the Constitutional Court, the authority to adjudicate requests for the determination of the dissolution of political parties rests with the Constitutional Court, and that interested parties must apply to the Constitutional Court to fulfill this request. It stated that the interested parties mentioned in Article 87 of the Turkish Civil Code No. 4721 are the legal representatives of political parties who hold legal and financial responsibility, as well as the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Court of Cassation, which is tasked with filing lawsuits for the closure of political parties and maintaining their registry files (AYM, E.2015/2 (D. İş), K.2016/4, §10).

On the other hand, in applications made to the Constitutional Court by certain district governorships requesting the determination that provincial and district organizations of political parties had automatically ceased to exist, it was stated that district governorships do not have the authority to request the determination of the dissolution of political party organizations and the consequent termination of their legal existence.

In summary, the interested parties mentioned in Article 87 of Law No. 4721 are the legal representatives of political parties who hold legal and financial responsibility, and the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Court of Cassation. The authority to decide on the determination of the dissolution of a political party's legal entity as a whole, upon the request of these persons, belongs exclusively to the Constitutional Court.

"RULING OF RIGHTS VIOLATION"

In the concrete application, it was observed that upon the letter from the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Court of Cassation, district governorships and governorships requested the civil courts of peace to determine that the applicant Party's provincial and district organizations had automatically ceased to exist, and that the civil courts of peace adjudicated these requests. It was understood that public authorities made these decisions without considering that political party legal entities are a whole with their organizations within the scope of Article 3 of Law No. 2820, and that the expression "every interested party" in Article 87 of Law No. 4721 does not encompass district governorships and governorships. In this context, it was concluded that the aforementioned provisions were interpreted in an expansive and unpredictable manner that exceeded their purpose. In light of these assessments, it was concluded that the determination decisions subject to the application did not meet the requirement of legality.

For the reasons explained, the Constitutional Court ruled that the freedom of political organization was violated."

News Source: 12punto