No more victims, top judge says

ANKARA

Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin (L) shakes hands with Constitutional Court head Haşim Kılıç before a meeting. DAILY NEWS photo, Selahattin SÖNMEZ

Turkey’s judicial reforms should not create new victims, Constitutional Court head Haşim Kılıç has said, adding that the only way to co-exist is to adopt the virtue of defending the rights and freedoms of others.

“We shouldn’t create new victims while trying to improve the legal system. The way to live with differences depends on showing the grace to protect the rights and freedoms of others,” said Kılıç.
“Our past shows us that a single teardrop from the aggrieved is more powerful than guns. We do not want to live through this again.”

The Constitutional Court head spoke yesterday at the opening ceremony of the International Symposium on Judicial Reform, which was organized by both the Justice Ministry and the World Bank.
“Just like we objected to the judiciary’s effort to besiege politics yesterday, we will not allow politics to be besieged by the judiciary today,” said Kılıç, adding that the judiciary’s unlimited practices have resulted in a heavy price which produced a rightful reason to make radical changes to the Constitution and the laws.

Shortcomings in education

Highlighting the fact that most of the judiciary’s problems come during the implementation process, Kılıç said biased judges were a result of shortcomings in their professional education.

“Well-performing judicial institutions are a central element of modern market economies,” World Bank in Turkey Country Director Martin Raiser said. “It is therefore most welcome that the Justice Ministry has taken this initiative to bring together global experts on justice systems as an input into its own judicial reform process.”

Supreme Court of Appeals head Nazım Kaynak said arrangements and precautions designed to lighten the court’s heavy and backed-up workload would be completed in the next three years.

“But I should add that taking care of the workload will not solve the problem. What matters is to lighten the court’s workload by alternative solution methods such as a conciliation agency,” he said.
However, Council of State head Hüseyin Karakullukçu said there should not be multiple high judiciary bodies. “Within the system, the State Council is responsible for the administrative judiciary. But at the same time, there is the Supreme Military Administrative Court. We respect them, but it can lead to differing judicial opinions and differences in implementations,” he said.