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Turkey: Ak Parti Government set to gain control over higher judiciary

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BEKIR_BOZDAG2The war between The Turkish Government and so-called CEMAAT is getting tougher each and every day. Erdoğan (former PM) with and oath to exterminate Cemaat (a crowded group of religious people with leader in the USA) who he claims to have tried to overthrow the AKP government in power (and Erdoğan obviously) violating the law. It is truly awkward however that this group Erdoğan accuses is also known to have partnered with the current AKP government (and Erdoğan obviously) during the process of Ergenekon trials in which hundreds of military personnel of high ranks were put into jail judging on evidences not to satisfy all consciences in the country. The CEMAAT was accused of generating false documents to be used as evidence against said personnel.. It was after the 17 and 25 December corruption allegations against the government (and Erdoğan) that the two parties became hostiles. Erdoğan accused the group (and head Fethullah Gülen, a prominent and powerful imam in the USA) of having established a parallel state (organization) in Turkey to take over control of the country.

Thereafter, the country witnessed the implausible challenge between the AKP government and the group (judges, prosecutors and the security personnel supporting Cemaat). It was at that time the former PM took oath to terminate said organization at whatever cost it may take.

Thus, now the Turkish government is again set to gain control over the higher judiciary in Turkey through a new draft bill that will allow the government to bring more people loyal to itself into both the administrative and penal appeals courts. Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ said the government was working on a draft law in which eight new chambers would be added to the Supreme Court of Appeals and two new chambers would be opened in the Council of State.

The draft bill, submitted to Parliament on Friday with signatures from ruling party lawmakers, will increase the number of chambers in Supreme Court of Appeals and the Council of State and assign new members to the courts of appeal. The government has made it clear that it is not comfortable with the rulings rendered by courts of appeal in the higher judiciary and that it wants to consolidate the control it has already established in the lower courts.

After winning a majority in the elections for members of the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) the Justice and Development Party (AK party) now wants to elect loyalist members to the additional chamber proposed in the bill. According to the billsubmitted to Parliament,the AK party will be able to assign 128 new members to the Supreme Court of Appeals and 39 members to the Council of State.

Experts have said the proposed draft bill, which shows signs of becoming an omnibus bill, will turn into a disaster for the future of Turkey’s judiciary. They say if AKP manages to succeed “Concerned draft law has only one meaning: the government will take over the judiciary with this package.”

According to experts both the Supreme Court of Appeals and the Council of State have been known to make decisions independently of the government and that this has caused problems for the ruling party in the past. The government intends to use the HSYK to manipulate the lower courts and the new package to assign loyalists to spots in the higher judiciary. Currently Turkey is considered to be going through a process whereby both the local courts and the higher judiciary are being subordinated to the government.

The government has already taken over the control of the key judicial council, the HSYK, through the elections in mid-October. Members of the Unity in the Judiciary Platform (YBP), sponsored by the government, won the elections, raising concerns about increased partisanship in the judiciary. The HSYK is the country’s key judicial council and is responsible for appointments, promotions and removal of personnel within the judiciary. Since a major corruption and bribery investigation became public on Dec. 17, 2013, the AK Party has been working to reshape the judiciary and justice system according to its desires so as to prevent the investigations from deepening and to halt the launch of similar probes.

Main opposition party (CHP) has criticized the bill, with Secretary-General Gürsel Tekin saying that Erdoğan wants to design the state institutions according to his desires and the AK Party would pay a heavy price for the subordination of the top judiciary to the AK Party.

SOURCE: MEDIA

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