Newly elected judicial board holds its first meeting

ANKARA

Following the election of new members to the Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK), the board has held its first meeting of the new term in Ankara under the chairmanship of Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül.

During the first meeting of the board since the general assembly of parliament chose seven members and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan chose four, Gül said that it was good news for democracy that both the ruling and main opposition parties came to an agreement.

On May 20, political parties in the Turkish Parliament reached an agreement on the election of HSK by agreeing that four members will be determined by the People’s Alliance led by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the other three by opposition bloc, the Nation Alliance.

Gül thanked the previous HSK members for their fight against the terrorist group and for clearing covert FETÖ members serving as prosecutors and judges from the judiciary.

He pointed out that the HSK has an important duty in preserving trust in justice.

“The prerequisite for a state of the law is an independent and impartial justice. The fact that justice is independent and impartial is a guarantor that all rights and freedoms are protected,” Gül noted, highlighting that Turkey was a state of law.

He also added that the board was preparing to implement the Human Rights Action Plan announced by the president on March 2 while also working on a new framework to promote prosecutors and judges.

The HSK is the disciplinary body of the legal system of Turkey and acts as the national council of the judiciary of the country.