A regional meeting on the impact of Turkish Constitutional Court (TCC) judgments on criminal and civil justice took place in Trabzon on 1 November 2022. This event was organised in the scope of the Supporting the Effective Implementation of Turkish Constitutional Court’s Judgments in the Field of Fundamental Rights Project.
This high-level meeting brought together representatives of the TCC with members of the Court of Cassation and Regional Court of Appeal. The Governor and the Mayor of Trabzon, Vice-President of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations and representatives of the Council of Europe from the Programme Office in Ankara were also present. Hosting over 100 participants, this event enjoyed a good level of participation from members of the judiciary. The participants were civil and criminal court judges and prosecutors from Trabzon, Giresun, Rize, Artvin, Gümüşhane; as well as members, judges and rapporteurs of the Turkish Constitutional Court.
The meeting was opened with the keynote speeches of Hasan KÜÇÜKOSMAN (President of the Regional Court of Appeal), Ahmet ÇELİKKOL (Chief Public Prosecutor of Trabzon), Pınar BAŞPINAR (Head of Office, a.i, Council of Europe Programme Office in Ankara) and Zühtü ARSLAN (President of the Turkish Constitutional Court).
The meeting focused on the impact of TCC judgments on civil and criminal justice. Through their presentations, the members of the Court of Cassation and the TCC Rapporteurs addressed the topics from the perspective of the objective and subjective impact of TCC judgments. Furthermore, topics such as retrials and reinvestigations following TCC judgments, implementation related problems in civil and criminal justice, and recommendations on the resolution of these problems were discussed at length. In addition, the TCC’s relevant case law on the right to a fair trial, freedom of expression and prohibition of torture and ill-treatment was presented. The event was concluded with an interactive question and answer session.
The Joint Project on “Supporting the Effective Implementation of Turkish Constitutional Court Judgments in the Field of Fundamental Rights” is co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe. The Turkish Constitutional Court is the end beneficiary of the Project.
