The assessment of the status of the justice system in Turkey clearly proves that the independence of the judiciary is abolished. The Platform for an Independent Judiciary in Turkey refers to its previous declarations and to the attached summary on the developments and their results. It is urgent to return to the rule of law and to bring back to the Turkish people the fundamental rights of which they had been deprived.
The Platform urges
I.) the Turkish authorities
• to end the pressure which is directly exercised on Turkish judges and prosecutors, who are in charge of the procedures subsequent to the terrible attempt of the coup d´etat, and indirectly by influencing the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors;
• to reestablish the procedural rules, which are necessary to guarantee a fair procedure;
• to make the observation of the court hearings by international observers possible;
• to guarantee that the European Prison Rules (CM Rec(2006)2) are obeyed in all detention centres and to hold accountable those who have violated them;
• release the unduly detained judges and prosecutors and to return the unduly seized assets of these persons;
• to annul the dissolution of the only independent judges association: YARSAV;
II.) the Council of Europe and the European Union
• to convince the Turkish authorities to fulfill the above mentioned requirements, which are based on common European values;
• to carefully follow the developments regarding the Turkish justice system;
• to establish mechanism and support initiatives which make international trial-observation missions possible.
Edith Zeller m.p.
President of the Association of European Administrative Judges (AEAJ)
José Igreja Matos m.p.
President of the European Association of Judges (EAJ)
Tamara Trotman m.p.
President of Judges for Judges
Gualtiero Michelini m.p.
President of Magistrats Européens pour la Democratie et les Libertés (MEDEL)
