Remedy for judicial row 'new constitution': Justice minister

ANTALYA

The best way to resolve the ongoing row between the two high courts is the new constitution, as the current charter has contradictory articles about the duties and responsibilities of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Appeals, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç has said.

“The source of the problem between the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Appeals is the Constitution,” Tunç said at a meeting over the weekend. “There are so many contradictory articles in the constitution.”

Tunç referred to an ongoing crisis between Türkiye’s top two high courts over the legal status of jailed lawmaker Can Atalay from the Türkiye’s Workers’ Party. Atalay was sentenced to 18 years in prison for trying to eliminate the elected government of Türkiye during the Gezi protests in 2013. In prison since 2022, Atalay was elected to the parliament and applied to the Constitutional Court for his release.

The high court ruled in favor of Atalay and underlined his rights were violated. Although the rules of the Constitutional Court are binding, the local court refused to implement the decision and submitted it to the Supreme Court of Appeals. The appeal court has slammed the Constitutional Court’s ruling and filed criminal complaints against the judges who ruled in favor of Atalay.

The appeals court, in a statement, stressed that there is no hierarchy among the high courts and the Constitutional Court cannot act as the top appeals court. It also criticized that the scope of the individual application to the Constitutional Court is too wide.

Tunç defended the appeal’s court view that there is no hierarchy between the high courts, saying: “Yes, the decisions by the Constitutional Court are binding for everyone. But there is also a constitutional article that stresses that the final body to scrutinize the local courts’ rulings is the Supreme Court of Appeals.”

The minister also said that some of the rulings of the Constitutional Court contradict with the case laws of the Supreme Court of Appeals.

“Therefore, we have to come together and accelerate our works for the new constitution,” Tunç added.