Study Visit of Constitutional Court of Turkey to the Council of Europe
20-22 June 2016, Strasbourg
The first study visit of the Constitutional Court of Turkey (TCC) to the Council of Europe took place on 20-22 June in Strasbourg, France. The visit aimed to provide participants with a closer insight into the work of the Council of Europe (the Council) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The study visit is expected to contribute improving the co-operation between the TCC and the ECtHR, and to increase the capacity of the TCC and effectiveness of the individual application system.
The delegation consisted of the deputy secretary general, chief rapporteurs, rapporteurs and assistant rapporteurs from the TCC, who had meetings with the senior lawyers from the ECtHR and other experts from several departments of the Council where they discussed the recent case-law of the ECtHR, execution of the judgments, as well as the challenges of the implementation of the ECHR and ECtHR case law at the national level.
Mr Recep Kaplan, Deputy Secretary General of the TCC also presented the situation of the Individual Application system and the TCC to the lawyers from the ERCtHR and emphasized the TCC’s role and work in protecting fundamental rights and freedoms at national level, in particular by introducing new remedies and capacity building efforts to improve the Individual Application System.
Other sessions included presentations on the work and policies of the Council, including the execution of ECtHR’s judgments, Venice Commission, HELP Programme, anti-discrimination, gender equality and sexual orientation.
The Director of Human Rights Mr Christos Giakoumopoulos also made an evaluation of the visit in the closing session the meeting.
The Delegation attended a Grand Chamber hearing (Khlaifia vs. Italy) on the last day of the visit.
For the agenda of the Study Visit please click.
