The 3rd Steering Committee Meeting of the European Union-Council of Europe Joint Project on “Promoting Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in Turkey” was held on 16 June 2022 in a hybrid format, allowing both physical and online participation from Ankara, Istanbul and Strasbourg.
Representatives from the Ministry of Justice – Directorate General for Criminal Affairs, Directorate General for Legal Affairs, Directorate General for Foreign Relations and EU Affairs, the Central Finance and Contracts Unit and the Council of Europe attended the meeting as members of the Steering Committee. In addition, representatives from other institutions, namely, the Delegation of the European Union to Türkiye, the Directorate for EU Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye – Department of International Arbitration and Alternative Solutions, the Committee of Inspection in Council of Judges and Prosecutors, the Justice Academy of Turkey, Istanbul Arbitration Centre (ISTAC), as well as representatives of the academia working in the field of conciliation and mediation, one conciliator and one mediator contributed to the meeting as observing members.
Following the opening speeches of Zekeriya Birkan, Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Türkiye, and Pınar Başpınar, Head of Operations of the Council of Europe Programme Office in Ankara, a general overview of the developments in the Project was presented. During the meeting, it was emphasised that the project directly supports the implementation of the Aim 9 of the Judicial Reform Strategy of the Ministry of Justice (2019) for dissemination of ADR methods and the Goal 3.5 of the Human Rights Action Plan of the Ministry of Justice (2021) for enhancing the effectiveness and dissemination of the ADR mechanisms in Türkiye.
Information was also provided on the achievements for developing legal framework, capacity building and awareness raising on ADR methods and the activities implemented between the period of January - June 2022 under the conciliation and mediation/arbitration components. During the meeting, the work plan covering the activities from July to December 2022 was presented and approved upon the comments of the Steering Committee members.
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.
