Constitutional Court of the Republic of Turkey
The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Turkey ( Turkish: Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Anayasa Mahkemesi ) is the Turkish state court with its seat in Ankara and is part of the jurisdiction of Turkey . It has a position similar to that of the German Federal Constitutional Court .
history
On May 27, 1960, the military seized power in Turkey and ordered a new constitution to be drawn up. There was broad consensus on the need for a constitutional court to review parliament and its decisions on constitutionality , but there were numerous discussions between politicians and legal scholars about what powers the future constitutional court should be given and how it should be organized and staffed. Finally, the constitutional fathers reached an agreement, and the Turkish constitution of 1961 , in which a constitutional court was anchored for the first time, was approved by referendum on July 9, 1961 and came into force on July 20. The court was able to make its first decision on September 5, 1962. It developed into an effective instrument for checking the constitutionality of laws, although initially it was not familiar with the institution of constitutional complaints.
The military staged another coup on September 12, 1980 , with the constitution formally remaining in force. The new Turkish Constitution of 1982 occurred, confirmed by a referendum (91.37%), on 9 November 1982 in force, the provisions relating to the constitutional court were largely adopted from the Constitution of the 1961st
Election and composition of the members
The election and composition of the members of the Constitutional Court is set out in Art. 146 et seq. regulated by the Turkish constitution.
Since the constitutional reform in 2010, the constitutional court has consisted of seventeen, and with the constitutional amendment in 2017, it has fifteen members. For each vacancy, three candidates are nominated by certain institutions, from which the President or the Grand National Assembly selects a member. Only a certain number of members may be represented in the constitutional court per institution.
The president selects three members of the Supreme Court and two members from the State Council , and one member each from the Militärkassationshof and the Supreme Military Administrative Court ; With the constitutional reform of 2017, the posts reserved for military jurisdiction will no longer apply. In addition, it elects three members from members of the teaching staff of the higher education institutions, who are proposed by the University Council, but may not belong to it, whereby at least two of them must be lawyers. Finally, the President appoints four members from the ranks of senior civil servants, freelance lawyers, first-class judges, public prosecutors and research assistants of the Constitutional Court, in this respect he has a quota to which he is entitled at his own discretion. The Grand National Assembly elects two members from the Court of Auditors and one member from the professional legal profession in a secret ballot.
The judges have a term of office of twelve years, limited by the age limit of 65 years, and cannot be re-elected. Membership also ends in the event of a conviction for a criminal offense that requires dismissal from the judicial office or through a simple majority decision of the other members in the event of health problems that no longer allow the exercise of office.
tasks
The Turkish Constitutional Court has the task of reviewing laws , ordinances with the force of law or the parliament's rules of procedure for compatibility with the constitution. In the procedure of the abstract review of norms, one of the two strongest parties represented in parliament or a quorum of one fifth of all MPs or the President of the State can bring an action for annulment within sixty days of the enactment of a law. Furthermore, in ongoing proceedings, courts can have laws that are relevant for the decision reviewed by submission (specific norm review procedure).
Since the constitutional referendum, there has also been a constitutional complaint, the corresponding implementing law came into force in September 2012, which can be raised by any citizen against a decision of a court that is otherwise no longer contestable.
In addition, as a criminal court it is responsible for the prosecution of the President of the Republic, the ministers, the presidents, members, chief public prosecutors or deputy chief public prosecutors of the highest courts, the members of the High Council of Judges and Public Prosecutors and the Court of Auditors for their crimes in office. The court has to review parliamentary decisions on the waiver of immunity or the dismissal of a member of parliament for their correctness. It is also responsible for proceedings to prohibit parties , which can be initiated at the Court of Cassation's request by the Public Prosecutor's Office.
From the time it was founded until 1999, the court carried out 2,693 nullity and referral proceedings, judged in 79 prohibition proceedings against political parties and in 66 proceedings on the lifting of parliamentary immunity or the dismissal of a member of parliament. The last proceedings that attracted international attention were a norms control procedure to lift the headscarf ban and a ban procedure against the ruling party AKP in 2008.
Presidents and Vice Presidents
President of the Constitutional Court
| No. | Surname | Beginning of the term of office | Term expires |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sünuhi Arsan (1899–1970) | June 22, 1962 | July 13, 1964 |
| 2 | Ömer Lütfi Akadlı (1902–1988) | October 7, 1964 | July 8, 1966 |
| 3 | İbrahim Hilmi Senil (1903–1981) | July 8, 1966 | July 14, 1968 |
| 4th | İsmail Hakkı Ketenoğlu (1906–1977) | December 15, 1970 | July 13, 1971 |
| 5 | Muhittin Taylan (1910-1983) | July 14, 1971 | July 14, 1975 |
| 6th | Kâni Vrana (1913–1984) | 1st October 1975 | July 13, 1978 |
| 7th | Şevket Müftügil (1917–2015) | October 24, 1978 | August 7, 1982 |
| 8th | Ahmet Hamdi Boyacıoğlu (1920–1998) | August 9, 1982 | April 6, 1985 |
| 9 | Hasan Semih Özmert (1921-2015) | April 9, 1985 | July 27, 1986 |
| 10 | Orhan Onar (1923-2009) | July 28, 1986 | March 1, 1988 |
| 11 | Mahmut Cuhruk (* 1925) | March 2nd, 1988 | March 1, 1990 |
| 12 | Necdet Darıcıoğlu (1926-2016) | March 2, 1990 | May 4th 1991 |
| 13 | Yekta Güngör Özden (* 1932) | May 8, 1991 | May 8, 1995 |
| Yekta Güngör Özden (* 1932) | May 25, 1995 | January 1, 1998 | |
| 14th | Ahmet Necdet Sezer (* 1941) | January 6, 1998 | May 5, 2000 |
| 15th | Mustafa Bumin (* 1940) | May 31, 2000 | May 31, 2004 |
| Mustafa Bumin (* 1940) | June 2, 2004 | June 26, 2005 | |
| 16 | Tülay Tuğcu (* 1942) | July 25, 2005 | June 12, 2007 |
| 17th | Haşim Kılıç (* 1950) | October 22, 2007 | February 10, 2015 |
| 16 | Zühü Arslan (* 1964) | February 10, 2015 | probably 2024 |
Deputy President of the Constitutional Court
| Surname | Beginning of the term of office | Term expires |
|---|---|---|
| Tevfik Gerçeker (1898–1982) | June 22, 1962 | December 16, 1963 |
| Ömer Lütfi Akadlı (1902–1988) | 2nd December 1963 | October 7, 1964 |
| Rifat Orhan Göksu (1901–1988) | June 12, 1965 | July 14, 1966 |
| Ömer Lütfi Ömerbaş (1914-2000) | February 11, 1967 | March 2nd 1971 |
| Avni Givda (1909-1987) | March 3, 1971 | July 13, 1974 |
| Kâni Vrana (1913–1984) | 15th July 1974 | 1st October 1975 |
| Şevket Müftügil (1917–2015) | 3rd November 1975 | October 24, 1978 |
| Ahmet Hamdi Boyacıoğlu (1920–1998) | November 8, 1978 | August 9, 1982 |
| Hasan Semih Özmert (1921-2015) | August 9, 1982 | April 9, 1985 |
| Orhan Onar (1923-2009) | April 9, 1985 | July 28, 1986 |
| Mahmut Cuhruk (* 1925) | July 28, 1986 | March 2nd, 1988 |
| Yekta Güngör Özden (* 1932) | March 2nd, 1988 | May 8, 1991 |
| Güven Dinçer (* 1934) | June 12, 1991 | November 24, 1999 |
| Haşim Kılıç (* 1950) | December 7, 1999 | October 22, 2007 |
| Osman Alifeyyaz Paksüt (* 1953) | October 23, 2007 | October 23, 2011 |
| Serruh Kaleli (* 1954) | April 14, 2011 | April 14, 2015 |
| Alparslan Altan (* 1968) | October 26, 2011 | October 26, 2015 |
| Burhan Üstün (* 1956) | April 10, 2015 | --- |
| Engin Yıldırım (* 1966) | 19th October 2015 | --- |
Current members
President and Vice Presidents
| Surname | origin | Member since | elected by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zühü Arslan (* 1964) | Member of a faculty | Apr 17, 2012 | Abdullah Gul |
| Burhan Üstün (* 1956) | Court of Cassation | 30th Mar 2010 | Abdullah Gul |
| Engin Yıldırım (* 1966) | Member of a faculty | Apr 9, 2010 | Abdullah Gul |
Members
| Surname | origin | Member since | elected by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Celal Mümtaz Akıncı (* 1957) | freelance legal profession | Oct 13, 2010 | Great National Assembly |
| Recai Akyel (* 1965) | Senior officials | 25 Aug 2016 | Recep Tayyip Erdoğan |
| Hicabi Dursun (* 1965) | Court of Auditors | Oct 6, 2010 | Great National Assembly |
| Hasan Tahsin Gökcan (* 1965) | Court of Cassation | 17th Mar 2014 | Abdullah Gul |
| Rıdvan Güleç (* 1965) | Court of Auditors | 13 Mar 2015 | Great National Assembly |
| Yusuf Şevki Hakyemez (* 1970) | Member of a faculty | 25 Aug 2016 | Recep Tayyip Erdoğan |
| Serruh Kaleli (* 1954) | freelance lawyers | July 19, 2005 | Ahmet Necdet Sezer |
| Recep Kömürcü (* 1955) | Court of Cassation | Dec 4, 2008 | Abdullah Gul |
| Muhammed Emin Kuz (* 1959) | Senior officials and lawyers | March 8 2013 | Abdullah Gul |
| Nuri Necipoğlu (* 1953) | Military Court of Cassation | Apr 22, 2010 | Abdullah Gul |
| Serdar Özgüldür (* 1955) | High Military Administrative Court | June 21, 2004 | Ahmet Necdet Sezer |
| Kadir Özkaya (* 1963) | State Council | Dec 18, 2014 | Recep Tayyip Erdoğan |
| Osman Alifeyyaz Paksüt (* 1953) | Senior officials and lawyers | July 2005 | Ahmet Necdet Sezer |
| Muammer Topal (* 1966) | State Council | Jan. 29, 2012 | Abdullah Gul |
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Christian Rumpf: The Constitution of the Republic of Turkey - as of June 2018. (PDF) In: tuerkei-recht.de. Retrieved on August 26, 2018 (Section 146, second section).
- ↑ Constitutional Complaint in Turkey: Countdown to More Human Rights? . In: Legal Tribune Online . May 31, 2012.
- ↑ Newsletter Turkish Law September 2012 . In: rumpf-legal.com / Rumpf Rechtsanwälte . Retrieved May 10, 2017.
- ↑ Judges cash in Erdogan's headscarf law ( memento of December 18, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) , Tagesschau of June 5, 2008.
- ↑ Court examines ban on Erdogan's party AKP . Welt.de, March 14, 2008. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
- ↑ Islamization: Turkish Constitutional Court rejects ban on ruling party . Spiegel Online, July 30, 2008. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
Coordinates: 39 ° 52 ′ 57.3 ″ N , 32 ° 51 ′ 27.9 ″ E