“There are some long-standing, systemic dysfunctions in the Turkish justice system adversely affecting the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Issues related to the independence and impartiality of judges and prosecutors, excessively lengthy pre-trial detention and judicial proceedings are some of the major issues which call for the government’s particular attention”, said the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, at the end of his five-day visit to Turkey. At the same time he expressed his trust in the goodwill and determination of the authorities who have already undertaken major legislative reforms.

The European Court of Human Rights delivered more than 2 200 judgments against Turkey in the period 1995-2010. Almost 700 of these judgments concerned violations of the right to a fair trial, and more than 500 related to the right to personal liberty and security. “I encourage the government to step up its efforts and give effect to the judicial reform strategy it launched in 2009 in order to redress the structural shortcomings and fully align justice in Turkey with the Council of Europe standards and the Court’s case-law”. (more...)

Turkey and the Council of Europe