Round Table Meeting: Right to Liberty and Security
4-5 June 2016, Istanbul
The first round table meeting within the framework of the EU/CoE Joint Project “Supporting the Individual Application to the Constitutional Court in Turkey” (SIAC) was held in Istanbul, Turkey on 4-5 June 2016 on “the right to liberty and security.”
The meeting brought the members and the rapporteurs of the Turkish Constitutional Court (TCC) together with national and international experts from the ECtHR, constitutional courts in other countries and academics from a wide range of universities in Turkey and Europe to discuss and analyse the problematic issues related to detention and arrest in the individual application judgments of the TCC. The exchange of opinions and experience with experts from different countries and backgrounds (constitutional, criminal and public law) will help to develop the quality standards of in the judgents of the TCC related to right to liberty and security in Turkey.
Seven problematic issues related to right to liberty and security in the individual application reviews were addressed during the meeting:
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intervention to right to liberty and security,
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lawfulness of detention,
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relevant and sufficient reasoning in decisions for continuation of detention,
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public authorities’ obligation to show special diligence,
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principle of equality of arms within the context of right to remedy against deprivation from freedom and right to be informed on reasons for detention and charge,
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impact of developments subsequent to individual application on the review of the application, and
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impacts of arrest, custody and detention measures on rights and freedoms other than right to liberty and security of person.
In each of the seven sessions, the rapporteurs presented the major judgments of the TCC on the specific topic and the experts discussed these judgements from different perspectives including the consistency of those judgments with the case-law of the ECtHR.
Mr Zühtü Arslan, the president of the TCC, also pointed out the importance of the meeting, which brought distinguished experts and academics from Turkish and European universities for such an important topic, since “right to liberty and security” was the second of the most violated right after the right to fair trial in Turkey. He also added that the meeting provided them with a chance to hear different opinions, which will help them to improve the quality of future judgments.
You can find the agenda, the judgments of the TCC discussed during the meeting and the list of participants here.
