Constitutional Court of Turkey explained

Court Name:Constitutional Court
Native Name:Anayasa Mahkemesi
Imagesize2:250px
Motto:"Rights and freedoms are dignity and virtue of humanity"
Established:25 April 1962
Location:Ahlatlıbel, Çankaya, Ankara
Coordinates:39.845°N 32.7895°W
Type:Legislative/Executive appointment
Authority:Constitution of Turkey
Terms:12 years or until age 65
Positions:15
Chiefjudgetitle:President of the Constitutional Court
Chiefjudgename:Kadir Özkaya
Termstart:2024
Termend:4 years (renewable)
Chiefjudgetitle2:Vice Presidents of the Constitutional Court
Chiefjudgename2:Basri Bağcı & Hasan Tahsin Gökcan
Termstart2:2019
Termend3:4 years (renewable)

The Constitutional Court of Turkey (Turkish: Anayasa Mahkemesi, sometimes abbreviated as AYM) is the highest legal body for constitutional review in Turkey. It "examines the constitutionality, in respect of both form and substance, of laws, decrees having the force of law, and the Rules of Procedure of the Turkish Grand National Assembly" (Article 148/1 of the Turkish Constitution). If necessary, it also functions as the Supreme Criminal Court (Turkish: Yüce Divan) to hear any cases raised about the President, Vice President, members of the Cabinet, or judges of the high courts. In addition to those functions, it examines individual applications on the grounds that one of the fundamental rights and freedoms within the scope of the European Convention on Human Rights which are guaranteed by the Constitution has been violated by public authorities (Article 148/3 of the Turkish Constitution).

The Court is the seat of the Center for Training and Human Resources Development of the Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Institutions.

Overview

Part Four, Section Two of the Constitution establishes the Constitutional Court that rules on the constitutionality of statutes and Presidential executive orders. The Court rules on issues referred to it by the President, the members of Parliament, or any judge before whom an exception of unconstitutionality has been raised by a defendant or a plaintiff. The Constitutional Court has the right to both a priori and a posteriori review (respectively, before and after enactment), and it can invalidate whole laws or governmental decrees and prevent their application in future cases. Challenges to a law must be made within the first two months of its promulgation. The court decides over the parliamentary immunity of the members of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and has the authority to ban political parties.[1] [2]

Organization

According to Article 146 of the Constitution, the Constitutional Court is composed of fifteen members.

The President appoints:

The Parliament appoints by secret ballot:

A two-thirds majority is required in the first ballot; if this majority is not reached, the absolute majority of MP´s is required in the second ballot and. Failing this, a runoff election among the two candidates with the greatest number of votes will determine the winner. Ultimately, therefore, the dominant political force in parliament will decide by relative majority.

To qualify for appointments as a member of the Court, professors, senior administrative officers, and attorneys-at-law are required to be over the age of 40 and to have completed their higher education or to have served at least 15 years as teaching staff of institutions of higher education or to have actually worked at least 21 years in public service or to have practiced as a lawyer for at least 21 years.

The Constitutional Court elects a president and vice presidents from among its regular members for a renewable term of four years by secret ballot and by an absolute majority of their members. The members of the Constitutional Court are not allowed to assume other official and private functions, apart from their main functions.

Composition

The Constitutional Court consists of 15 members:

NameRankDate appointedTerm endSelected by quotaAppointed by
1 Kadir ÖzkayaPresident18 December 2014 2024-4-17 18 December 2026Council of StateRecep Tayyip Erdoğan
2 Hasan Tahsin GökcanVice President 17 March 2014 2026-3-17 17 March 2026Court of CassationAbdullah Gül
3 Basri BağcıVice President 2 April 2020 2020-04-03 2 April 2032Court of CassationRecep Tayyip Erdoğan
4 Engin YıldırımMember 9 April 2010 2031-02-09 9 February 2031Council of Higher EducationAbdullah Gül
5 Member 6 October 2022 2022-10-06 6 October 2034Court of AuditorsGNAT
6 Member 31 January 2022 2022-10-13 31 January 2034President of BarGNAT
7 Member 30 January 2024 2024-10-13 16 August 2033 Council of StateRecep Tayyip Erdoğan
8 Member 18 July 2024 2024-5-12 14 February 2034Executive or LawyerRecep Tayyip Erdoğan
9 Member 13 March 2015 2026-08-18 13 March 2027Court of AuditorsGNAT
10 Member 25 August 2016 2033-03-29 25 August 2028Executive or LawyerRecep Tayyip Erdoğan
11 Member 25 August 2016 2028-08-25 25 August 2028Council of Higher EducationRecep Tayyip Erdoğan
12 Yıldız SeferinoğluMember 25 January 2019 2031-01-25 25 January 2031Executive or LawyerRecep Tayyip Erdoğan
13 Selahaddin MenteşMember 5 July 2019 2031-07-05 5 July 2031Executive or LawyerRecep Tayyip Erdoğan
14 Member 20 April 2024 20 April 2036 Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
15 Member 23 January 2021 23 January 2033 Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

History

See also: Constitutional history of Turkey.

The Constitutional Court of Turkey was established on April 25, 1962, according to the provisions of the constitution of 1961. Prior to that date, absolute superiority of the parliament was adopted as a constitutional principle, with no judicial review. There existed no legal institution to review the constitutionality of laws passed by the parliament, and of acts and actions of governments. The social democratic opposition, intellectuals, and the military junta that came into power by military coup on May 27, 1960, supported limitation and control of the parliamentary power in the face of abuses of parliamentary majority by the Democratic Party governments (1950–60) under the premiership of Adnan Menderes. The Justice Party, a descendant of the Democratic Party; as well as Justice and Development Party have rejected the idea of judicial review, pushing for parliamentary superiority.

The first decision the court gave is dated September 5, 1962, which was published on the Official Gazette on October 3, 1962. It was about a direct petition by a certain İnaç Tureren for the annulment of an article of the Law of Criminal Procedure (Ceza Muhakemeleri Usûlü Kanunu - CMUK), which was claimed to be violating the provisions of Article 30 of the constitution. The court turned down the case, stating that individual application to the court was constitutionally impossible.[3]

The first president of the court was Sünuhi Arsan, who served for two years (1962–64). Following the second (Ömer Lütfi Akadlı - 1964–66) and the third (İbrahim Senil - 1966–68) presidents, the court failed to elect a president for 29 months (until 1970) during which it was headed by an acting president.

The articles of the constitution regulating the structure of the court were slightly amended in 1971 and 1973.

Although the constitution of 1961 was annulled by the military regime that came into the power with the military coup of September 12, 1980, the court went on operating. It currently operates according to the constitution of 1982.

Key decisions

2023 constitutional crisis

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Devereux . Robert . 1963 . Turkey's New Constitutional Court . SAIS Review (1956-1989) . 7 . 2 . 21–22 . 45348898 . 0036-0775.
  2. Web site: The constitution of the Republic of Turkey . www.byegm.gov.tr . 5–6.
  3. http://www.anayasa.gov.tr/eskisite/KARARLAR/IPTALITIRAZ/K1962/K1962-001.htm Esas No : 1962/2
  4. [Today's Zaman]
  5. http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=constitutional-court-votes-to-xx-turkey-pro-kurdish-part-2009-12-11 Turkey's Constitutional Court closes DTP
  6. https://verfassungsblog.de/why-the-turkish-constitutional-courts-wikipedia-decision-is-no-reason-to-celebrate/ Tecimer, Cem: "Why the Turkish Constitutional Court’s Wikipedia Decision is No Reason to Celebrate"