Legal predictability key for rule of law, investments: Justice minister

ANKARA

Legal predictability is a key element for the installation and implementation of the rule of law and for drawing investments, the country’s justice minister has said, urging judges to make rulings in line with the Constitution and abide by Constitutional Court rulings.

“One of the indispensable aspects of an economy that produces and creates jobs is legal predictability. Legal predictability and economic predictability are directly proportionate to each other,” Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül said at a panel in Ankara on Nov 12.

Gül’s statement came a day after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan underlined that his government will take measures to better the investment climate in Turkey, including steps to address business circles’ complaints about judicial processes. Erdoğan had said the new economy management will have meetings with the international investors soon.

“Long-term investments of either local or foreign investors are surely closely linked with predictable judicial practices,” he said, citing recent problems that stemmed from the local courts’ objection to abide by the verdicts of the Constitutional Court in some cases.

“It’s not possible to talk about legal predictability in a place where there are questions like ‘Will the [local] court abide by the ruling of the Constitutional Court?’ Therefore, legal predictability is vital for the implementation of the rule of law,” he said.

Replying to the questions of the reporters after the panel, Gül recalled that his ministry is working on the Human Rights Action Plan whose details are being discussed with all the stakeholders of the economy.

“We will soon listen to the expectations of the business world on how to increase the legal security with our treasury and finance minister. Delivering justice is very important for both local and foreign investors. We are working on what kind of deficiencies we have in that regard,” he said.