PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The "EU-CoE Joint Project on Strengthening the Capacity of the Turkish Judiciary on Freedom of Expression” is co-funded by the European Union, the Council of Europe and the Republic of Turkey. The Project which will be implemented by the Council of Europe (CoE) in cooperation with the Justice Academy of Turkey (JAT) will be carried out between 2 September 2014 and 1 December 2016. The Constitutional Court, the Court of Cassation, the Council of State, the High Council for Judges and Prosecutors and the Ministry of Justice will contribute to the Project as the partners.

The main objective of the Project is to contribute to a better protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, especially the right to freedom of expression, in Turkey.

The project’s activities will enhance the application of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case law and improve the application of human rights standards in the field of freedom of expression and media in the daily work of the judiciary through the interpretation and implementation of the legislation in force in line with European standards.

During the planning and the implementation phases of the project, an inclusive approach will be adopted in order to incorporate all relevant stakeholders, namely representatives from the High Courts, the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors, the Ministry of Justice, bar associations, universities (faculties of law, communication, art, social sciences etc.) representatives of media and the civil society. A number of events are envisaged to bring both governmental and non-governmental actors together during the Project.

All the capacity development activities will be carried out in close co-operation with the European Programme for Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals-HELP (www.coe.int/help), which is the platform gathering all capacity development resources for legal professionals of the Council of Europe.

 

 For detailed iformation please follow the Project web-site ifadeozgurlugu.taa.gov.tr

 

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Project Information

TOTAL DURATION OF THE PROJECT     27 months  (2 September 2014 – 1 December 2016)

TOTAL BUDGET                                        € 2.800.000

logo_footer   MAIN PARTNER:               The Justice Academy of Turkey (JAT) is the direct project beneficiary.

The Justice Academy of Turkey was established on 23 July 2003 in Ankara, as a legal entity with scientific, administrative and financial autonomy. Its main function is to design and implement training activities such as pre-service and in-service training courses for the professional development of civil, administrative and military judges and prosecutors, auxiliary judicial personnel and lawyers.  http://www.taa.gov.tr/

OTHER PARTNERS: The Constitutional Court, the Court of Cassation, the Council of State, the High Council for Judges and Prosecutors and the Ministry of Justice.

LOGO aymConstitutional Court of the Republic of Turkey http://www.anayasa.gov.tr/en/     

logo yargitayCourt of Cassation of Republic of Turkey http://www.yargitay.gov.tr/eng/index.php

logo danistayRepublic of Turkey Presidency of the Council of State  http://www.danistay.gov.tr/eng/index.html

logo hsykHigh Council of Judges and Prosecutors http://www.hcjp.gov.tr/

logo MoJ    Republic of Turkey Ministry of Justice  http://www.justice.gov.tr/

 COE-Logo-QuadriThe Council of Europe (CoE)

The Council of Europe is the implementing organization of the Project. The CoE is an international organization located in Strasbourg (France) with 47 member states. The Council of Europe, founded on 5 May 1949 and Turkey is one of the founding members. The main objective of the organisation is to promote co-operation between European countries in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation and protect the rights of citizens of the member states. https://www.coe.int/en/

eu_flag The Delegation of the European Union to Turkey (EUD)

Under the Project, the EUD will perform active contribution to the monitoring and evaluation activities for this programme and participation in the Steering Committee to strengthen the programme results as observer.  http://avrupa.info.tr/en/home.html

cfcuThe Central Finance and Contracts Unit (CFCU)

Under the Project, the Central Finance and Contracts Unit (CFCU) is the Contracting Authority of the project. The Contracting Authority will be responsible for tendering, contracting, administration, overall project supervision, review and approval of the reports, financial management including payments of the project activities. http://www.cfcu.gov.tr/index.php?lng=en

TARGET GROUPS Judges, prosecutors, candidate judges and prosecutors; lawyers, journalists, representatives from civil society organisations, academics.

Project Activities

The project activities  can be summarised as:

  1. Review of the existing training programmes on freedom of expression and the media

  2. Development of pre-service training modules and materials on “freedom of expression”

  3. Development of in-service training modules and materials on “freedom of expression” and “freedom of the media”

  4. Placements

  5. Study visits to the EU member states

  6. Training-of-trainers on the pre-service training modules

  7. Training-of-trainers on the in-service training modules

  8. Purchase of academic materials for the Human Rights Center

  9. Publication of a special issue of the Human Rights Review on freedom of expression and the media.

  10. Cascade seminars (initial training)

  11. Cascade seminars and online course on freedom of expression (in-service training)

  12. Cascade seminars on freedom of the media (in-service training)

  13. International workshops

  14. Study visits to the CoE including the ECtHR

  15. Working group’s meetings on Raising Awareness on Freedom of Expression

  16. Communication and information campaign

  17. Workshops/seminars/round tables

  18. International Symposium and closing event

  19. Publication of a book containing the proceedings of the symposium

  20. Dissemination and Follow-up

Project Results

The expected results under the Project can be summarised under three main headings:

  1.  Training curricula and capacity of the Justice Academy with regard to rights of freedom of expression and the media are improved: The training curricula and capacity of Justice Academy with regard to freedom of expression and the media will be improved, through the development of training modules and the training of qualified trainers.

  2. Awareness and capacity of judges and public prosecutors to apply European standards in cases concerning freedom of expression are increased: The awareness and capacity of judges and public prosecutors on freedom of expression and the media will be increased, through training seminars, study visits and workshops.

  3. Effective cooperation among relevant actors is established and awareness of the public on the right to freedom of expression is raised:  Effective cooperation among relevant actors (civil society, faculties of law, communication, art, bar association, media etc.) will be established and awareness of the public on freedom of expression will be raised, through an information campaign, workshops and an international symposium.

Project Links & Online Resources

INTERNATIONAL  

  1. Council of Europe (CoE) - www.coe.int

  2. European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) - http://www.echr.coe.int/echr/homepage_EN

  3. ECtHR Human Rights Case Law Search - http://www.inhak.adalet.gov.tr/mevzuat/mevzuat.html - http://www.echr.coe.int/echr/en/hudoc

  4. HUDOC -http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng/Pages/search.aspx#{"documentcollectionid2":["GRANDCHAMBER","CHAMBER"]}

  5. Department for the Execution of Judgments of the ECHR - https://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/execution/default_EN.asp

  6. CoE Committee of Ministers - https://www.coe.int/t/cm/Home_en.asp

  7. Venice Commission - http://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/events/

  8. CoE Human Rights Trust Fund - https://www.coe.int/t/dghl/humanrightstrustfund/default_en.asp

  9. CoE Commissioner for Human Rights -  https://www.coe.int/en/web/commissioner

  10. European Convention on Human Rights - http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/Convention_ENG.pdf

  11. European Union - http://europa.eu/index_en.htm

  12. Europeon Union - Activities - Human Rights - http://europa.eu/pol/rights/index_en.htm

  13. Delegation of the European Union to Turkey - http://avrupa.info.tr/en/home.html

  14. Delegation of the European Union to Turkey Youtube account - https://www.youtube.com/user/HumanRightsTurkey 

  15. European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights Helping to make fundamental rights a reality for everyone in the European Union - http://fra.europa.eu/en 

  16. OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) -http://www.osce.org/odihr

  17. OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media: http://www.osce.org/fom

  18. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights - http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Pages/WelcomePage.aspx

  19. Division of Freedom of Expression and Media Development (FEM) - http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/about-us/who-we-are/whos-who/freedom-of-expression-and-media-development-fem/

  20. Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ISSUES/FREEDOMOPINION/Pages/OpinionIndex.aspx

NATIONAL 

  1. Constitutional Court of the Republic of Turkey - www.anayasa.gov.tr/en/

  2. Court of Cassation of Republic of Turkey - http://www.yargitay.gov.tr/eng/index.php

  3. Republic of Turkey Presidency of the Council of State - http://www.danistay.gov.tr/eng/index.html

  4.  Republic of Turkey Ministry of Justice  - http://www.justice.gov.tr/

  5. Ministry of Justice Human Rights Department - http://www.inhak.adalet.gov.tr/

  6. ECtHR Human Rights Case Law Search - http://www.inhak.adalet.gov.tr/mevzuat/mevzuat.html - http://www.yargitay.gov.tr/aihm/

  7. Ministry of Justice International Law and Foreign Relations Directorate General - http://www.uhdigm.adalet.gov.tr/english/eng_index.html

  8. High Council of Judges and Prosecutors - http://www.hcjp.gov.tr/

  9.  Justice Academy of Turkey - http://www.taa.gov.tr/

  10. Union of Turkish Bar Associations - http://www.barobirlik.org.tr/en

  11.  Union of Turkish Bar Associations Human Rights Center - http://www.barobirlik.org.tr/insanhaklari/

  12. Central Finance and Contracts Unit - http://www.cfcu.gov.tr/index.php?lng=en

 

More Information

Project News

  1. 3rd Working Group Meeting to develop a curriculum for the pre-service training on freedom of expression, 15-17 June 2015 - ANKARA, Turkey.
  2. Study visit to ECtHR and CoE Institutions, 1-3 June 2015, STRAZBOURG 
  3. 2nd Working Group Meeting to develop a curriculum for the pre-service training on freedom of expression, 13-15 May 2015 - ANKARA, Turkey.
  4. 1st  Working Group Meeting to develop a curriculum for the pre-service training on freedom of expression, 8-10 April 2015 - ANTALYA, Turkey.
  5. The Justice Academy of Turkey hosted the 2nd Steering Committee Meeting, 17 March 2015 -ANKARA, Turkey.
  6. The initial Working Group  Meeting to develop the training curricula on freedom of expression and the media, 3-6 March 2015 - ANKARA, Turkey.
  7. The launching event and the 1st Steering Committee Meeting of the Project,  11 December 2014 - ANKARA, Turkey.

Project Documents

REPORTS

1. Expert Review Report on Needs Assessment Analysis, 12-14 November 2014 - ANKARA
2. Recommendations on the Development of Training Modules on The Protection of Freedom of Expression Based on the Outcomes of the Initial Working Group Meeting, 3-6 March 2015 - ANKARA
3. Report of the Working Group Meeting on the Development of Pre-service Training Modules for the JAT on Freedom of Expression, 8-10 April 2015 - ANTALYA 
VISUALS

1. Project Brochure

2. Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals - HELP Brochure_TURKISH

3. Bookmarks

Article 10 of the ECHR

Article 10 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This Article shall not prevent States from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises.

2. The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary.

  Full text of the Convention