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Conclusions of the meeting on 7 December in Strasbourg
Working Group of the Council of Europe and the Turkish Ministry of Justice

On 7 December 2017, the Working Group between the Council of Europe and the Turkish Ministry of Justice met in Strasbourg to discuss issues relating to pretrial detention in the light of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights.

The Working Group had an exchange on the current practice of public prosecutors and first instance judges as regards grounds for pretrial detention and terrorism related crimes affecting freedom of expression and association.

Deprivation of liberty is only possible in narrowly circumscribed situations as defined by Article 5 of the ECHR (right to liberty and security) and the principles set out in the case-law of the Strasbourg Court.

The Working Group agreed that the relevant State authorities should ensure that the right to liberty is respected in order to prevent any unjustified and prolonged pretrial detention.

The need to ensure that alternatives to pretrial detention are given proper consideration by judicial authorities was also emphasized.

In this context, it was agreed to carry out cooperation activities in order to prevent human rights violations.

The Informal Working Group is an essential part of the continuing dialogue and cooperation between Turkey and the Council of Europe. It was established at the beginning of 2015 on the initiative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and the Minister of Justice as part of Turkey’s action plan to prevent violations of the ECHR.

Furthermore, an exchange of information on the practice of the Court of cassation as regards terrorism related crimes emphasizing in particular on the criteria used to define membership of a terrorist organization was held on 8 December with judges of the 16th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation.

The next meeting of the Working Group will take place in Ankara in early 2018.

Council of Europe Strasbourg 8 December 2017
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