International Conference on "Individual Application to Constitutional Court as a System to Protect Human Rights at National Level"

Antalya, 27-28 November

Mr President, dear Mr Kiliç,

Esteemed and honourable Judges,

Excellences, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Colleagues,

It is a great honour and a real pleasure for me to open this high-level Conference to celebrate the second anniversary of the introduction of the individual application before the Constitutional Court of Turkey.

This Conference dedicated to Individual Application to Constitutional Court as a System to Protect Human Rights at National Level is of great significance for the system of the European Convention on Human Rights. This is the second conference that the Council of Europe has organised this year in cooperation with the Constitutional Court of Turkey.

One must remember that the long-term effectiveness of the Human Rights Convention system depends, on the one hand, on the Court’s capacity to deal rapidly with the cases brought before it and, on the other hand, on the capacity of member States to address possible violations effectively.

Undeniably, the Convention mechanism does rely on the domestic systems' capacities to tackle human rights violations rapidly and effectively at their source, in full conformity with the principle of subsidiarity which underpins all the control system. The Brighton Declaration specifically underlined the shared responsibility between the Court of Human Rights and the member States for applying the Convention and developing an enhanced understanding of the respective roles and obligations.

In this regard, the full implementation of Protocol no.14 clearly contributed to the improvement of the European Court’s capacity to deal with its case-load but the issue of effective domestic protection is clearly linked to the existence of domestic remedies. Such remedies are an essential pre-condition for an effective enforcement of rights and freedoms enshrined in both the national Constitution and the Convention.

I would like here to congratulate the Turkish Constitutional Court for its outstanding efforts in introducing such a remedy, and therefore assuming Turkey’s responsibility for implementing its human rights obligations at the national level, in accordance with the Convention requirements and the principle of subsidiarity.

Now that the individual application system is entering its third year, it is already possible to draw some conclusions on its efficiency. We, and I presume that the Turkish society too, are very happy to see that the system works and that the first judgments of the Constitutional Court, related to the length of detention and pre-trial detention, also rulings on Twitter and Youtube bans, as well as the decision on the law on High Council of Judges and Prosecutors echoed the case law of the Strasbourg Court. This is strong evidence of the effectiveness of the new remedy in Turkey and we wish every success to the Constitutional Court and especially to President Kılıç in fulfilling this highly challenging task.

Because introducing such a remedy is certainly a challenging task. We will have the opportunity during this Conference to hear about the feedback from some Turkish and international experts on the main achievements and challenges ahead of the Turkish Constitutional Court.

Additionally, to guarantee the impact of the Constitutional Court judgments on the case law of other courts, a systematic exchange and dissemination of the Constitutional Court case law should be ensured. In this regard, the relations between the high courts are an important aspect to be discussed during the next two days. Indeed, it seems that the attitude of the lower and higher courts’ judges to comply with the guiding role of the Constitutional Court should still be further promoted through training and awareness-raising activities.

The Council of Europe supports its member States in this endeavor in many ways. During the past years, it has developed co-operation activities funded by both the ordinary budget and various extra-budgetary sources. Today’s conference, organised in the framework of the project on “Supporting the Individual Application to the Constitutional Court in Turkey”, is a good example of such activities. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our donors, including those states which support the co-operation activities through voluntary contributions, the Human Rights Trust Fund and the European Union.

Our Organisation acts on the basis of- if you allow me this expression - a virtuous triangle: first, we set common standards for all member States; second, we monitor their implementation and third, we offer co-operation whenever we can support the efforts of our member States to comply with these standards. In the field of human rights this is achieved through a comprehensive approach, including both legislative expertise and capacity development.

Ownership and sustainability are key elements of the co-operation activities of the Council of Europe. This is why we adopt a country-specific approach, and develop a constant dialogue with the authorities from the initial preparation of a project right through to its final evaluation. The best solutions adapted to each country are suggested, with no single model being imposed.

Indeed, the necessary prerequisite for achieving an effective implementation of human rights at the national level is that those responsible for it - judges, prosecutors, lawyers, as well as law-enforcement officers - are not only familiar with European human rights standards but are also able to apply them on a day-to-day basis in specific situations. The Council of Europe, through its flagship project the HELP Programme - the European Programme for Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals ensures that human rights training is of good quality and meets the specific needs of legal professionals.

I would like to also underline here the successful cooperation that the Council of Europe has enjoyed with all Turkish High Courts during the implementation in the recent years of the Joint Programme on “Enhancing the role of the supreme judicial authorities in respect to European standards”. Since 2010, we have been working closely with the Turkish Constitutional Court to establish an individual application mechanism. International expertise has been provided; round tables, seminars, study visits and placements in the European Court of Human Rights for judges from the Constitutional Court have been organised. As a result of this project, a considerable decrease of complaints to the European Court has been observed and domestic judicial practices improved in certain areas.

I believe that together we have achieved very good results and I would like to express once more my warm gratitude to the President of the Constitutional Court, Mr Kılıç, for his trust in the Council of Europe and for his personal efforts and involvement in establishing this new mechanism.

Now, the Constitutional Court of Turkey is entrusted with powers that enable it to provide direct and speedy redress for violations of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution and in the Convention. And the Constitutional Court has now proven to be fully able to endorse its new responsibilities. Its judgments are in line with the Strasbourg case law and are welcomed by the Council of Europe, as well as by Turkish society as a whole.

Trust in the judiciary by society is of paramount importance for the establishment of rule of law and it is a reassuring sign that the Turkish Constitutional Court will continue to be the defender of fundamental rights and freedoms in Turkey for the future.

Excellences, ladies and gentlemen,

I will conclude by saying that not only the highest courts of the Council of Europe member States should bear the responsibility of implementing the European Convention on Human Rights at national level. It is a joint responsibility, and all members of the judiciary should be aware that they have a key role to play in this regard with the Constitutional Court showing the way. The Council of Europe is of course ready to continue to support you.

I wish you a fruitful Conference.

I thank you for your kind attention.