Within the scope of the EU-CoE Joint Project on “Improving the Effectiveness of Family Courts: Better Protection of the Rights of Family Members” Roundtable Meetings on the Effectiveness of Divorce Procedures as the first content-related activity were held on 13-14 October 2021 in Ankara.
Family court judges from the Ankara Courthouse (which was selected as the pilot court within the scope of the Project), experts (pedagogues, psychologists and social workers), court personnel and executive directors, representatives of Ministry of Justice General Directorate of Legislation and Department of Judicial Support and Victim Services, Ministry of Family and Social Services, Union of Turkish Bar Associations Women’s and Children’s Rights Commissions and Ankara Bar Gelincik (Poppy) Centre had the opportunity to address and discuss the problems encountered in divorce proceedings and the proposed solutions.
In the meeting, the CoE national consultants Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nil Karabağ Bulut and Asst. Prof. Dr. Cansu Kaya Kızılırmak steered the discussions through their presentations on the role of the principle of fault in divorce, joint review of the claims other than the divorce, European Court of Human Rights and Turkish Constitutional Court case law within the scope of the right to a fair trial and European best practices in effective divorce procedures. Experts from the Justice Academy of Turkey also informed the participants on the share of the problems stemming from implementation of divorce procedures in causing secondary trauma to the parties and psychological and social aspects of divorce.
Problems and proposed solutions discussed by the stakeholders in the meetings shall be compiled by a team of national and international consultants under a “Recommendations Report”. In this framework, an extensive evaluation will be carried out as to the challenges faced and aspects to be improved regarding effectively handling divorce cases without causing secondary trauma in spouses and children, the parties’ needs for legal support and daily functioning of the courts, procedures and courthouse facilities. After the first draft of the report is prepared, the recommendations put forward in the report will be shared with the stakeholders through a third meeting to be held in late November.
The “Improving the Effectiveness of Family Courts: Better Protection of the Rights of Family Members” Project is co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe and Justice Academy of Turkey. The Project aims to ensure rule of law and fundamental rights in Turkey as fully in line with international and European standards and to improve the effectiveness of family courts in protecting the rights of women, children, and other family members.
