Almost 60,000 cases filed against Prime Ministry over Turkey’s State of Emergency decrees

ANKARA

Some 57,679 cases were filed against State of Emergency decree laws in 2017, the Prime Ministry Office’s activity report for the year has stated. Around 4,500 of these cases directly accuse the Prime Ministry over rights violations in the decrees. 

“In 2017, 56,679 cases filed against State of Emergency decrees were referred to the Prime Ministry. In around 4,500 of these cases, the Prime Ministry was a direct party to the legal proceeding and the defenses to these cases were prepared in coordination with the ministry’s Directorate of Legal Services,” the activity report of the Prime Ministry read on Feb. 28.

Some 55,426 of the cases filed demanded an annulation of decree provisions.

The figures mark a significant rise from number of cases filed against the Prime Ministry in 2016 (15,053) and in 2015 (1,336).

The report added that other cases are being followed by the directorate, and the Prime Ministry has formed a joint “information repository” for the July 2016 coup attempt cases as well as an “arbitration data network.”

The report stated that cases against the Prime Ministry concerning State of Emergency decree number 685 have been directly conveyed to the State of Emergency Investigation Commission, in line with State of Emergency decree number 690 article 56, which states that local courts have no jurisdiction over these decrees.

The commission was formed in 2017 to receive complaints about the state of emergency provisions. It announced on Feb. 28 that it has received 107,076 applications so far, making decisions on 6,400 complaints.

Among those decisions, only 100 of the complaints were accepted and 4,316 were rejected. Some 1.984 of the applications were directed for preliminary examinations, leaving around 100,000 applications still to be reviewed.