Court cases to be finalized in 200 days: Justice minister

ANKARA

The Turkish Justice Ministry is mulling limiting the length of judicial processes to 200 days in a bid to reduce problems caused by long trials, Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül has said, while adding that 13,000 new judges and prosecutors were appointed after dismissals during the state of emergency.

“We have made an assessment with judges and prosecutors and determined an average time period for court cases in Turkey. It will be 200 days. We have set a goal for a case not to exceed 200 days or 100 days,” Gül said on Aug. 6 at a congress in Istanbul.

Gül stated that the ministry has determined around 600 different case topics and set a time limit for these cases to be finalized.

“If a case will be finalized in, for instance, 101 days, there will be an investigation and the grades [of a judge] will be lowered. If necessary, the judge will be taken into training,” Gül added.

He said that from Jan. 1, the new cases to be opened will be notified with a time limit, and the ministry will investigate the lengths.

Gül also announced the current number of judges and prosecutors as 17,000, stating that 4,000 judges and prosecutors have been dismissed after the thwarted July 15, 2016 coup attempt in a bid to fight against FETÖ.

“We have appointed 1,300 judges and prosecutors,” he said, adding that they will be appointed to their posts after a one-year training.