Country of origin information report Turkey March 2007

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10 Judiciary
See also Annex D “Administration of justice” and Annex E for a comprehensive description of the Court system in Turkey
Organisation
10.01 As recorded in ‘Political Structure of Turkey’ (dated November 2005, website accessed 11 July 2006):
“Judicial power in Turkey is exercised by independent courts and supreme judiciary organs. The judicial section of the Constitution, with the principle of a legal state as its basis, is founded on the independence of the courts and the judges, and the guarantee of judges’ rights. Judges rule on the basis of Constitutional provisions, law and jurisprudence. The legislative and executive organs must comply with the rulings of the courts and may not change or delay the application of these rulings. Judges also assume the duties of monitoring elections. Functionally, a tripartite judicial system has been adopted by the Constitution and accordingly, it has been divided into an administrative judiciary, a legal judiciary and a special judiciary. The Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of Appeals, the Council of State, the Supreme Military Court of Appeals, the Supreme Military Administrative Court and the Court of Jurisdictional Conflicts are the supreme courts mentioned in the judicial section of the Constitution. The Supreme Council of Judges and Public Prosecutors and the Supreme Council of Public Accounts are also two organizations having special functions in the judicial section of the Constitution.” [36i] (Section on Judiciary)
10.02 As noted in the European Commission report 2004:
“Since 1999, some important improvements have been made to the Turkish judicial system. The State Security Courts have been abolished and replaced by Regional Serious Felony Courts (also referred to as Heavy Penal Courts). New specialised courts have been set up in order to improve the efficiency of the judicial system. Legal amendments have improved the rights of defence. A Justice Academy has been established and training on international law and human rights for judges and prosecutors has been intensified.” [71c] (p23-p24)