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Court of Cassation (Turkey)

February 16, 2024

The Court of Cassation, officially called the Supreme Court of Appeals of the Republic of Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Yargıtay Başkanlığı – Yargıtay for short), is the last instance for reviewing verdicts given by courts of criminal and civil justice in Turkey.

Court of Cassation
Yargıtay
Seal of the Court of Cassation
39°50′43″N 32°47′10″E / 39.84528°N 32.78611°E / 39.84528; 32.78611
Established6 March 1868; 155 years ago (1868-03-06)
JurisdictionTurkey
LocationAnkara
Coordinates39°50′43″N 32°47′10″E / 39.84528°N 32.78611°E / 39.84528; 32.78611
Number of positions30 chambers of five members
Websiteyargitay.gov.tr
First President (Birinci Başkan)
CurrentlyMehmet Akarca

History edit

 
The building of the Turkish Court of Cassation in Ankara.

The institution of the court of appeals was Divan in the Ottoman Empire until the 19th century. The first modern court of appeals Divan-ı Ahkam-ı Adliye which was the first form of today's Yargıtay was established during the reign of Abdülaziz on 6 March 1868.[1] There are different view on the date of foundation. Some jurists hold that 6 March 1868 is the founding date when the Padishah announced his will and others hold that 1 April 1868, when the statute of the court was passed is the founding date.[2] Its first president was Ahmet Cevdet Pasha, the governor of Aleppo.[1] The high court was composed of members from Muslim and non-Muslim communities in a ratio of two thirds and one third respectively.[1] The name Divan-ı Ahkam-ı Adliye was changed June 18, 1879, to Mahkeme-i Temyiz (Appeal Court) by an act on foundation of courts.[1]

During the Turkish War of Independence, the Mahkeme-i Temyiz transferred its case files to a Temporary Committee of Appeals Muvakkat Temyiz Heyeti, which was formed on June 7, 1920, in Sivas by the Ankara Government that replaced the government in İstanbul upon the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.[1] On 7 June 1920 the Grand National Assembly of Turkey passed a law that established four chambers for appeal cases referring to civil, criminal, religious justice and one for petitions.[2] The Court of Cassation in Istanbul continued to exist. When Istanbul came under the reign of the national government on 4 November 1922 the courts were united by transferring the files from Istanbul to Sivas.[2] The Temporary Committee of Appeals moved from Sivas to Eskişehir on November 14, 1923, due to better transportation potential. At the same time, the committee's name was changed to Court of Appeals (Temyiz Mahkemesi).[1]

In 1935, the Supreme Court of Appeals moved to its new building in Ankara, which was built by the renowned Austrian architect Clemens Holzmeister.[1] On January 10, 1945, the name of the "Court of Appeals" was changed to "Court of Cassation" (Yargıtay). The latest act (Law 2797) related to the Court of Cassation is from February 4, 1983.[1]

2023 constitutional crisis edit

This section is an excerpt from 2023 Turkish constitutional crisis.[edit]

On 8 November a constitutional crisis unfolded in Turkey between the Court of Cassation and the Constitutional Court when the Court of Cassation intervened to overturn a ruling by the Constitutional Court regarding the release of an imprisoned member of the Turkish Parliament, Can Atalay.[3]

The Constitutional Court had previously ordered the release of Atalay, asserting that his imprisonment infringed upon his rights to security, liberty, and the right to be elected. However the Court of Cassation annulled this decision, instructing lower courts not to abide by it.[4] Furthermore, the appeals court called for a criminal investigation into the Constitutional Court members, alleging that their ruling constituted a violation of the constitution.[3]

The opposition parties and the Union of Turkish Bar Associations called this action a "judicial coup attempt". Additionally, certain executives[clarification needed] within the ruling Justice and Development Party criticised the Court of Cassation's ruling.[5] The new leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party, Özgür Özel, called the ruling "a coup attempt against the constitutional order." He further emphasized the significance of the situation, stating, "I called our parliamentary group to an extraordinary closed meeting on the latest developments in the judiciary. The developments cannot be underestimated or ignored. Beyond the crime of violating the Constitution, this is an attempt to oppose the constitutional order. It should be suppressed immediately."[5]

Administration edit

The Court is divided into 30 chambers according to their particular specialized field. There are 20 civil chambers, 10 penal chambers.[6] Until 2001 there were 21 civil and 11 criminal chambers.[7] A chamber has five members, one of which is president of the chamber. Judgments are taken by majority.[7] One elected judge by the all judges of the Court of Cassation presides over the entire Court as general President.[6] All presidents and judge-members of civil chambers form the General Civil Assembly, and all presidents and judge-members of criminal chambers constitute General Criminal Assembly (Yargıtay Ceza Genel Kurulu).[7] The General Assemblies decide on cases, if the lower court does not comply with the chamber's decision, persisting in its own decision[7] and on cases that the Chief Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation has appealed. There are 250 high judges, 32 heads of chamber and 440 Rapporteur-Judges whose duty is to carry out preliminary preparation and to explain case-file to the judge-members of this Court and 144 prosecutors working at the Court of Cassation.[7] In the civil chambers, average case-file number which come to these chambers annually is 261,716 and duration of handling the case-file changes from two months to three months. In the criminal chambers, 139,025 case-files are concluded on the average annually.[7]

The High Court of Appeals is administered by the following judges (as of January 2021):

  • Mehmet Akarca, First President
  • Bekir Şahin, Chief Public Prosecutor
  • Eyüp Yeşil, Deputy First President
  • Adem Albayrak, Deputy First President
  • Rıdvan Gündoğdu, Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor
  • Fevzi Yıldırım, Secretary General

Reforms edit

As recorded in the European Commission 2005 report: “The Law Establishing the Intermediate Courts of Appeal came into force on 1 June 2005. The establishment of the Courts of Appeal will substantially reduce the case load of the Court of Cassation and enable it to concentrate on its function of providing guidance to lower courts on points of law of general public importance. The Law provides that the Courts are to be established within two years of its entry into force.”[6] The progress report of the European Commission on Turkey dated 9 November 2010 stated: "The regional courts of appeal are not operational yet. By law, they should have been in operation by June 2007."[8]

In the country report 2009 Human Rights Watch wrote: "Decisions of Turkey’s Court of Cassation continued to flout international human rights law and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, and demonstrate that the judiciary remains a site of institutionalized resistance to reform."[9] The organization criticized a March 2008 precedent decision by the General Penal Board of the Court of Cassation, ruling that individuals joining demonstrations where the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) had called for public participation were to be charged with “membership” in the PKK for “committing a crime in the name of the organization.”[9] In a report of 17 June 2010 Amnesty International called for an end of prosecution of children under anti-terrorism legislation.[10] The organization stated, "Thousands of children in Turkey, some as young as 12, have been prosecuted under anti-terrorism legislation, solely for their alleged participation in demonstrations considered by the government to be in support of terrorism. Prosecutions are often based on insubstantive evidence or statements taken from the children under pressure. The anti-terrorism legislation that the children are prosecuted under is vague and overly broad in its wording and unfair in its application by judges and prosecutors."[10] On 19 November 2010 Amnesty International referred to legal changes regarding trials of minors: "The Turkish government amended the law to prevent the prosecution of child demonstrators under anti-terrorism legislation solely for their alleged participation in demonstrations. Under these amendments, all children previously convicted under the Anti-Terror Law will have their convictions quashed and all children prosecuted under other laws will be tried in Children’s Courts rather than adult Special Heavy Penal Courts."[11]

These and other criticisms led to further reforms. On 1 March 2011 the Law Library of Congress reported: "Turkey's Parliament passed a controversial judicial reform bill on February 9, 2011. Under the Law on the Amendment of Certain Laws, the highest level of the judiciary will be restructured.[12] The Court of Appeals (Court of Cassation, Yargıtay, the highest court for civil and criminal cases) will have the number of its chambers increased to 38 from 32, and the Council of State (or Supreme Administrative Court, Danıştay, the country's highest administrative court) will have 15 divisions instead of the current 13.[13]

In signing the bill into law on 14 February 2011, Turkish President Abdullah Gül remarked that had he not approved it, "200,000 cases could have faced the statute of limitations."[14]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Short history (in English) on the official website 2011-06-07 at the Wayback Machine; accessed on 3 May 2011
  2. ^ a b c History of the Court of Cassation (Turkish) 2007-05-03 at the Wayback Machine, on the official website; accessed on 3 May 2011
  3. ^ a b "Turkey's top appeals court files complaint against constitutional court judges". Reuters. 2023-11-08. Retrieved 2023-11-08.
  4. ^ "Turkey's two top courts go to war over jailed politician". France 24. 2023-11-08. Retrieved 2023-11-08.
  5. ^ a b "Top Turkish appeals court files criminal complaint against Constitutional Court justices regarding MP Atalay ruling". Gazete Duvar. Retrieved 2023-11-08.
  6. ^ a b c Country of Origin Information on Turkey, published by the UNHCR on 9 August 2010; accessed on 4 May 2011
  7. ^ a b c d e f Section "About Us" on the official website 2011-05-28 at the Wayback Machine, in English, accessed on 3 May 2001
  8. ^ Progress Report of November 2010; accessed on 4 May 2011
  9. ^ a b Turkey: Events of 2009; accessed on 4 May 2011
  10. ^ a b press release of 17 June 2010 11 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine; accessed on 4 May 2011
  11. ^ Turkey: All children have rights 2011-01-06 at the Wayback Machine; accessed on 4 May 2011
  12. ^ For the full report see permanent link to the report; accessed on 4 May 2011
  13. ^ See ("Judicial Reform Bill" Passed Through Parliament, BIANET (February 11, 2011), http://bianet.org/english/politics/127829-judicial-reform-bill-passed-through-parliament; Bazı Kanunlarda Değişiklik Yapılmasına Dair Kanun, Law No. 6110, Turkish Grand National Assembly website (February 9, 2011), http://www.tbmm.gov.tr/kanunlar/k6110.html 2011-02-13 at the Wayback Machine.)
  14. ^ (Turkish Judiciary Expresses Concern over New Law, HÜRRIYET DAILY NEWS (February 14, 2011), http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=judiciary-expresses-concern-over-approved-law-on-judiciary-2011-02-14 2011-02-16 at the Wayback Machine.)

External links edit

  • (in English)

February 16, 2024
court, cassation, turkey, court, cassation, officially, called, supreme, court, appeals, republic, turkey, turkish, türkiye, cumhuriyeti, yargıtay, başkanlığı, yargıtay, short, last, instance, reviewing, verdicts, given, courts, criminal, civil, justice, turke. The Court of Cassation officially called the Supreme Court of Appeals of the Republic of Turkey Turkish Turkiye Cumhuriyeti Yargitay Baskanligi Yargitay for short is the last instance for reviewing verdicts given by courts of criminal and civil justice in Turkey Court of CassationYargitaySeal of the Court of Cassation39 50 43 N 32 47 10 E 39 84528 N 32 78611 E 39 84528 32 78611Established6 March 1868 155 years ago 1868 03 06 JurisdictionTurkeyLocationAnkaraCoordinates39 50 43 N 32 47 10 E 39 84528 N 32 78611 E 39 84528 32 78611Number of positions30 chambers of five membersWebsiteyargitay gov trFirst President Birinci Baskan CurrentlyMehmet Akarca Contents 1 History 1 1 2023 constitutional crisis 2 Administration 3 Reforms 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksHistory edit nbsp The building of the Turkish Court of Cassation in Ankara The institution of the court of appeals was Divan in the Ottoman Empire until the 19th century The first modern court of appeals Divan i Ahkam i Adliye which was the first form of today s Yargitay was established during the reign of Abdulaziz on 6 March 1868 1 There are different view on the date of foundation Some jurists hold that 6 March 1868 is the founding date when the Padishah announced his will and others hold that 1 April 1868 when the statute of the court was passed is the founding date 2 Its first president was Ahmet Cevdet Pasha the governor of Aleppo 1 The high court was composed of members from Muslim and non Muslim communities in a ratio of two thirds and one third respectively 1 The name Divan i Ahkam i Adliye was changed June 18 1879 to Mahkeme i Temyiz Appeal Court by an act on foundation of courts 1 During the Turkish War of Independence the Mahkeme i Temyiz transferred its case files to a Temporary Committee of Appeals Muvakkat Temyiz Heyeti which was formed on June 7 1920 in Sivas by the Ankara Government that replaced the government in Istanbul upon the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire 1 On 7 June 1920 the Grand National Assembly of Turkey passed a law that established four chambers for appeal cases referring to civil criminal religious justice and one for petitions 2 The Court of Cassation in Istanbul continued to exist When Istanbul came under the reign of the national government on 4 November 1922 the courts were united by transferring the files from Istanbul to Sivas 2 The Temporary Committee of Appeals moved from Sivas to Eskisehir on November 14 1923 due to better transportation potential At the same time the committee s name was changed to Court of Appeals Temyiz Mahkemesi 1 In 1935 the Supreme Court of Appeals moved to its new building in Ankara which was built by the renowned Austrian architect Clemens Holzmeister 1 On January 10 1945 the name of the Court of Appeals was changed to Court of Cassation Yargitay The latest act Law 2797 related to the Court of Cassation is from February 4 1983 1 2023 constitutional crisis edit This section is an excerpt from 2023 Turkish constitutional crisis edit On 8 November a constitutional crisis unfolded in Turkey between the Court of Cassation and the Constitutional Court when the Court of Cassation intervened to overturn a ruling by the Constitutional Court regarding the release of an imprisoned member of the Turkish Parliament Can Atalay 3 The Constitutional Court had previously ordered the release of Atalay asserting that his imprisonment infringed upon his rights to security liberty and the right to be elected However the Court of Cassation annulled this decision instructing lower courts not to abide by it 4 Furthermore the appeals court called for a criminal investigation into the Constitutional Court members alleging that their ruling constituted a violation of the constitution 3 The opposition parties and the Union of Turkish Bar Associations called this action a judicial coup attempt Additionally certain executives clarification needed within the ruling Justice and Development Party criticised the Court of Cassation s ruling 5 The new leader of the main opposition Republican People s Party Ozgur Ozel called the ruling a coup attempt against the constitutional order He further emphasized the significance of the situation stating I called our parliamentary group to an extraordinary closed meeting on the latest developments in the judiciary The developments cannot be underestimated or ignored Beyond the crime of violating the Constitution this is an attempt to oppose the constitutional order It should be suppressed immediately 5 Administration editThe Court is divided into 30 chambers according to their particular specialized field There are 20 civil chambers 10 penal chambers 6 Until 2001 there were 21 civil and 11 criminal chambers 7 A chamber has five members one of which is president of the chamber Judgments are taken by majority 7 One elected judge by the all judges of the Court of Cassation presides over the entire Court as general President 6 All presidents and judge members of civil chambers form the General Civil Assembly and all presidents and judge members of criminal chambers constitute General Criminal Assembly Yargitay Ceza Genel Kurulu 7 The General Assemblies decide on cases if the lower court does not comply with the chamber s decision persisting in its own decision 7 and on cases that the Chief Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation has appealed There are 250 high judges 32 heads of chamber and 440 Rapporteur Judges whose duty is to carry out preliminary preparation and to explain case file to the judge members of this Court and 144 prosecutors working at the Court of Cassation 7 In the civil chambers average case file number which come to these chambers annually is 261 716 and duration of handling the case file changes from two months to three months In the criminal chambers 139 025 case files are concluded on the average annually 7 The High Court of Appeals is administered by the following judges as of January 2021 Mehmet Akarca First President Bekir Sahin Chief Public Prosecutor Eyup Yesil Deputy First President Adem Albayrak Deputy First President Ridvan Gundogdu Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor Fevzi Yildirim Secretary GeneralReforms editAs recorded in the European Commission 2005 report The Law Establishing the Intermediate Courts of Appeal came into force on 1 June 2005 The establishment of the Courts of Appeal will substantially reduce the case load of the Court of Cassation and enable it to concentrate on its function of providing guidance to lower courts on points of law of general public importance The Law provides that the Courts are to be established within two years of its entry into force 6 The progress report of the European Commission on Turkey dated 9 November 2010 stated The regional courts of appeal are not operational yet By law they should have been in operation by June 2007 8 In the country report 2009 Human Rights Watch wrote Decisions of Turkey s Court of Cassation continued to flout international human rights law and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and demonstrate that the judiciary remains a site of institutionalized resistance to reform 9 The organization criticized a March 2008 precedent decision by the General Penal Board of the Court of Cassation ruling that individuals joining demonstrations where the Kurdistan Workers Party PKK had called for public participation were to be charged with membership in the PKK for committing a crime in the name of the organization 9 In a report of 17 June 2010 Amnesty International called for an end of prosecution of children under anti terrorism legislation 10 The organization stated Thousands of children in Turkey some as young as 12 have been prosecuted under anti terrorism legislation solely for their alleged participation in demonstrations considered by the government to be in support of terrorism Prosecutions are often based on insubstantive evidence or statements taken from the children under pressure The anti terrorism legislation that the children are prosecuted under is vague and overly broad in its wording and unfair in its application by judges and prosecutors 10 On 19 November 2010 Amnesty International referred to legal changes regarding trials of minors The Turkish government amended the law to prevent the prosecution of child demonstrators under anti terrorism legislation solely for their alleged participation in demonstrations Under these amendments all children previously convicted under the Anti Terror Law will have their convictions quashed and all children prosecuted under other laws will be tried in Children s Courts rather than adult Special Heavy Penal Courts 11 These and other criticisms led to further reforms On 1 March 2011 the Law Library of Congress reported Turkey s Parliament passed a controversial judicial reform bill on February 9 2011 Under the Law on the Amendment of Certain Laws the highest level of the judiciary will be restructured 12 The Court of Appeals Court of Cassation Yargitay the highest court for civil and criminal cases will have the number of its chambers increased to 38 from 32 and the Council of State or Supreme Administrative Court Danistay the country s highest administrative court will have 15 divisions instead of the current 13 13 In signing the bill into law on 14 February 2011 Turkish President Abdullah Gul remarked that had he not approved it 200 000 cases could have faced the statute of limitations 14 See also editJudicial system of TurkeyReferences edit a b c d e f g h Short history in English on the official website Archived 2011 06 07 at the Wayback Machine accessed on 3 May 2011 a b c History of the Court of Cassation Turkish Archived 2007 05 03 at the Wayback Machine on the official website accessed on 3 May 2011 a b Turkey s top appeals court files complaint against constitutional court judges Reuters 2023 11 08 Retrieved 2023 11 08 Turkey s two top courts go to war over jailed politician France 24 2023 11 08 Retrieved 2023 11 08 a b Top Turkish appeals court files criminal complaint against Constitutional Court justices regarding MP Atalay ruling Gazete Duvar Retrieved 2023 11 08 a b c Country of Origin Information on Turkey published by the UNHCR on 9 August 2010 accessed on 4 May 2011 a b c d e f Section About Us on the official website Archived 2011 05 28 at the Wayback Machine in English accessed on 3 May 2001 Progress Report of November 2010 accessed on 4 May 2011 a b Turkey Events of 2009 accessed on 4 May 2011 a b press release of 17 June 2010 Archived 11 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine accessed on 4 May 2011 Turkey All children have rights Archived 2011 01 06 at the Wayback Machine accessed on 4 May 2011 For the full report see permanent link to the report accessed on 4 May 2011 See Judicial Reform Bill Passed Through Parliament BIANET February 11 2011 http bianet org english politics 127829 judicial reform bill passed through parliament Bazi Kanunlarda Degisiklik Yapilmasina Dair Kanun Law No 6110 Turkish Grand National Assembly website February 9 2011 http www tbmm gov tr kanunlar k6110 html Archived 2011 02 13 at the Wayback Machine Turkish Judiciary Expresses Concern over New Law HURRIYET DAILY NEWS February 14 2011 http www hurriyetdailynews com n php n judiciary expresses concern over approved law on judiciary 2011 02 14 Archived 2011 02 16 at the Wayback Machine External links edit in English Official site Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Court of Cassation Turkey amp oldid 1195624988, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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