Turkish Parliament expands legal shield of appointed company trustees

This was the part of a broader bill aiming to change the structures of two top supreme judiciary institutions to purge alleged members of the Gülen movement from critical judicial positions. 

With the new bill, the scope of the authority of trustees appointed to companies will be extended, as the partnership stakes or stock management of seized companies will also be transferred to the trustees. 

The former law stipulated that seized companies can demand compensation from the trustees for their losses.

The new bill, however, notes that such lawsuits can be opened against the state, but not against a board of trustees.  The state will have recourse to the trustees who misuse their authority in one year.

Strong criticisms have been leveled by opposition parties and several business organizations against the draft bill, though lawmakers from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) robustly defended the changes.

Upon criticisms, the parliamentary commission declined to extend the crime definition in the new draft. 

According to the broader bill, the number of judges at the Supreme Court of Appeals will be reduced from 516 to 200, while the number of judges at the Council of State will drop from 195 to 90. All members of both courts will be dismissed by the day the law will go into force except for its presidents, who will retain their positions despite the change in the law.