Top Turkish court rejects main opposition petition to annul judicial bill

ANKARA

The CHP's Ali Rıza Öztürk speaks to reporters in front of the Constitutional Court in Ankara, Feb 19 after filing the application. AA photo

The Constitutional Court has rejected the application filed Feb. 19 by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which had demanded that a law restructuring Turkey’s top judicial institution be declared null and void. In its justification, the court stated that the bill had yet to be signed into law by President Abdullah Gül.

Gül has two weeks to veto or approve the bill.

The CHP had demanded the annulment of the law boosting government control over the appointment of judges and prosecutors through the reshaping of the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK). The draft was approved by Parliament on Feb. 15 after a heated debate and a brawl that left one opposition lawmaker hospitalized. 

Speaking after filing his party’s application, CHP Mersin Deputy Ali Rıza Öztürk claimed that 40 articles of the 46-article law violated the Constitution. 

The CHP came under fire from ruling AKP parliamentarians and members of the Cabinet for the application. Deputy Prime Minister Emrullah İşler dubbed the appeal “a first” in Turkey and described it as “odd.”