The international symposium on “The Impartiality of Judges and the Use of Social Media by Judges” was held online on 28 May 2021 with a view to elaborating on the topics of the impartiality of judges and the use of social media by exchanging international knowledge and experience on these topics. The event focused on the impartiality and the perception of impartiality of the judge, public confidence in judicial independence and impartiality, the use of social media by judges and judicial ethics.

The symposium started with the opening remarks of Mr Osman Atalay, Chair of the Human Rights Commission and President of the 1st Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation, Mr Cristian Urse, Head of the Council of Europe Programme Office in Ankara and Mr Mehmet Akarca, First President of the Court of Cassation of Turkey. Two consecutive sessions moderated by Assoc. Prof. Saadet Yüksel, Turkish Judge from the European Court of Human Rights and by Mr Rıza Akbal, Member of the Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee of the Turkish Court of Cassation followed the opening remarks.

The symposium was attended by over ninety participants, including presidents of chambers, bench members, members of the Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee, rapporteur judges and public prosecutors of the Court of Cassation. Speakers included Dr Nihal Jayawickrama, Coordinator of the Judicial Integrity Group and Member of the Advisory Board of the Global Judicial Integrity Network, Ms Dudu İrem Toros, Former Member of the Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee of the Turkish Court of Cassation, Ms Sevim Sönmez, Lawyer from the European Court of Human Rights, Hon. Kashim Zannah, Chief Judge of Nigeria’s Borno State High Court and Prof. Dr Gülriz Uygur, Member of the Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee of the Turkish Court of Cassation.

The event was organised under the European Union-Council of Europe Joint Project on “Strengthening the Institutional Capacity of Court of Cassation”.