 This file photo shows 'Lady Justice' sculpture in front of the Supreme Court of Appeals in Ankara. Government plans to add new departments to the top court. Hürriyet photo |
Turkey’s Justice Ministry is preparing to establish new departments in the Supreme Court of Appeals in order to reduce its heavy workload and make the court and judicial systems more efficient amid a fresh round of blame games between the government and the judges.
The announcement came late Wednesday after a meeting between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek and Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin.
The polemic heated up in the new year, when suspects of serious crimes and organized terrorism rackets who had remained incarcerated without receiving convictions for between five and 10 years were released.
The situation escalated after the Justice Ministry blamed the Supreme Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court of Appeals blamed the government, workers within the departments blamed forensics institutes and the structure of the judiciary and lawyers blamed the courts for the cases taking too long to complete.
After fingers were pointed, the government finally stepped in to remedy the problem. It is preparing to increase the number of departments.
The Supreme Court of Appeals has requested the activation of Regional Courts of Justice instead, as the proposal to increase the number departments was drafted two years ago, and does not meet current needs.
“What we need to do is to shorten the trial process,” the justice minister had stated previously. Ergin said the actual problem is the workload of the Supreme Court of Appeals. According to the minister, the finalization of a legal case in Turkey takes approximately 1,622 days (nearly four-and-a-half years).
The announcement came late Wednesday after a meeting between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek and Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin.
The polemic heated up in the new year, when suspects of serious crimes and organized terrorism rackets who had remained incarcerated without receiving convictions for between five and 10 years were released.
The situation escalated after the Justice Ministry blamed the Supreme Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court of Appeals blamed the government, workers within the departments blamed forensics institutes and the structure of the judiciary and lawyers blamed the courts for the cases taking too long to complete.
After fingers were pointed, the government finally stepped in to remedy the problem. It is preparing to increase the number of departments.
The Supreme Court of Appeals has requested the activation of Regional Courts of Justice instead, as the proposal to increase the number departments was drafted two years ago, and does not meet current needs.
“What we need to do is to shorten the trial process,” the justice minister had stated previously. Ergin said the actual problem is the workload of the Supreme Court of Appeals. According to the minister, the finalization of a legal case in Turkey takes approximately 1,622 days (nearly four-and-a-half years).
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