Top court rules in favor of inmate's privacy rights

KOCAELİ

The Constitutional Court has upheld the right to respect for private life and freedom of communication, ruling that the recording of an inmate's letters in the digital judicial platform UYAP violated his fundamental rights.

The decision came after Muammer Kukul, a convict in the northwestern province of Kocaeli, raised concerns about the monitoring and recording of the letters he sent and received while in prison. Kukul contended that this practice infringed upon his rights to privacy and freedom of communication, and he brought the issue to the Constitutional Court's attention in 2020.

The top court's evaluation centered on the absence of clear regulations governing the scope and implementation of measures involving the recording, preservation and use of an inmate's confidential information and personal data.

The court concluded that these measures lacked the necessary safeguards against arbitrariness, thus infringing on the inmate's right to respect for private life and the right to request the protection of personal data.

The Constitutional Court's decision cited a previous case involving another inmate, Ümit Karaduman, who had similarly challenged the recording of his prison correspondence.

Meanwhile, the Constitutional Court decided to send the case back to the Kocaeli 1st Execution Judge for retrial.

The court rejected Kukul's request for compensation, citing the belief that the retrial process would offer adequate redress for the privacy violations he had suffered. However, it approved his request for legal aid, ensuring he would have proper legal representation during the retrial.