The “International Conference on the 11th Anniversary of Individual Application Mechanism in Türkiye” was held on October 13, 2023, at the Grand Chamber Hall of the Constitutional Court of Türkiye (the TCC). The event was organised under the European Union-Council of Europe Joint Project on “Supporting the Effective Implementation of Turkish Constitutional Court Judgments in the Field of Fundamental Rights”.
In the conference attended by members and representatives of the high courts, various judicial organs and institutions, and the Council of Europe representatives, the opening speeches were delivered by the Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Program Office in Ankara, Pınar Başpınar, the Ambassador and Head of the European Union Delegation to Türkiye, Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut and the President of the Turkish Constitutional Court, Prof. Zühtü Arslan.
Pınar Başpınar, in her address, thanked the TCC and its leadership for the excellent cooperation the CoE and the TCC have had so far and expressed the trust that the results achieved together “will be sustainable and impactful in line with the Council of Europe standards”.
In his speech, Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut underlined how the individual complaint mechanism has become a widely used instrument by citizens in Türkiye, stressing its importance for the TCC in addressing cases of human rights violations.
President Arslan considered the 11-year experience of the individual application mechanism as “a success story” and highlighted the way it has made constitutional rights and freedoms more relevant and efficient across the entire legal landscape. He also presented statistics related to individual applications to the TCC and mentioned cases of individual applications where violations of human rights were found.
Following the speeches, the event featured two thematic sessions focusing on the "Subsidiarity of Individual Application Judgments" and the "Erga Omnes Effect of Individual Application Judgments." Speakers included two ECtHR judges, a Vice President and a Chief Rapporteur of the TCC, along with international and Turkish academics, as well as legal experts from renowned universities and research centres.
The event, attended by approximately 200 participants, concluded with closing remarks delivered by the Vice President of the TCC, Hasan Tahsin Gökcan.
The Joint Project on “Supporting the Effective Implementation of Turkish Constitutional Court Judgments in the Field of Fundamental Rights” is co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe. The Turkish Constitutional Court is the end beneficiary of the Project.
