Press Briefing Highlights the Crucial Role of the Turkish Constitutional Court in Safeguarding Fundamental Rights through Individual Applications – Council of Europe Programme Office in Ankara – www.coe.int

A Press Briefing held in Ankara on 18 October 2024, as part of the public awareness-raising campaign under the European Union – Council of Europe Joint Programme on “Supporting the Effective Implementation of Turkish Constitutional Court’s Judgments in the Field of Fundamental Rights.” The event drew significant media attention.

Mr Kadir Özkaya, President of the Constitutional Court, opened the event and emphasized the impact of the individual application procedure. He underlined that Türkiye has significantly reduced the number of cases filed against it before the European Court of Human Rights and the number of violation judgments since the introduction of individual application system.

Mr Özkaya highlighted the individual application process as a major milestone and a success story in Turkish legal history.

The briefing provided detailed insights into the Constitutional Court’s structure, working procedures and principles, focusing on the initial examination and admissibility of individual applications, the merits review, and the examination of cases by both sections and the plenary session. It also covered the influence of individual application judgments, annulment actions, and the Constitutional Court’s role in reviewing constitutionality. The Court’s relationship with the Council of Europe and its international relations featured prominently in the discussions.

The event clarified potentially misunderstood concepts such as “rejection of the application,” “inadmissibility of the application” and “violation of rights,” ending with an interactive question and answer session.

“Supporting the Effective Implementation of Turkish Constitutional Court Judgments in the Field of Fundamental Rights” project is co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe. The Turkish Constitutional Court is the end beneficiary of the Project.