Awareness raising seminars on conciliation were organised in Mardin on 8-9 November 2022, and in Antalya on 21-22 November 2022 in the framework of the European Union-Council of Europe Joint Project on “Promoting Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in Turkey”. The seminars were attended by approximately 200 representatives of the Directorate General for Criminal Affairs of the Turkish Ministry of Justice, judges, public prosecutors, conciliators, lawyers, law enforcement personnel.
The seminar in Mardin started with the opening speech of the Director General for Criminal Affairs, Mr Ali Öztürkmen, who underlined the significance of conciliatory institution in judicial proceedings. The two-day discussion concerned the matters of proposal and negotiation in conciliation, the role of lawyers and law enforcement personnel, and disciplinary procedures in conciliation.
The seminar in Antalya was kicked off with the opening speeches of Mr Sergey Dikman, Project Coordinator of the Council of Europe and Ms Sibel Kök, Deputy Director General for Criminal Affairs of the Turkish Ministry of Justice by underlining the strong partnership built between Turkish Ministry of Justice and Council of Europe. This seminar also addressed issues and challenges pertaining to the proper application and implementation of the conciliation mechanism and effective communication and negotiation during the conciliation process by underlying principles of restorative justice and practices.
Both events became a platform for a peer-to-peer exchange between key actors of the conciliation process on how they can better co-ordinate their work.
The Joint Project on “Promoting Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in Turkey” is co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe. The Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Türkiye – Directorate General for Criminals Affairs and Directorate General for Legal Affairs are the end beneficiaries of the project. The Central Finance and Contracts Unit is the contracting authority.
