Judiciary of Turkey

The judicial system of Turkey is defined by Articles 138 to 160 of the 1982 Constitution. Civilian and military jurisdiction are separated. While military courts usually only try military personnel, they can also try civilians in times of martial law and in matters concerning military service.

Turkey's judicial system has been wholly integrated with the system of continental Europe. For instance, the Turkish Civil Code has been modified by incorporating elements mainly of the Swiss Civil Code and Code of Obligations, and the German Commercial Code. The Administrative Code bears similarities with its French counterpart, and the Penal Code with its Italian counterpart.

The general term for members of the legal profession in Turkey is hukukçu. In Turkey, any man or woman, after having graduated from a law faculty at a university, can become avukat (attorney-at-law or barrister), hâkim or yargıç (judge), savcı (prosecutor) or noter (notary or public notary) after terms of internship specified in separate laws. However, for the judges and prosecutors before getting the title of training judge (stajyer), they have to pass through a written exam which is held by ÖSYM (Student Selection and Placement Center of Turkey) and an interview carried out by a Committee mainly consisting of judges.

Private lawyers spend one year of internship and then join a bar association (baro) and the Turkish Bar Association. All Turkish lawyers are required to wear black robes in court.

The Turkish court system does not recognize the concept of a jury. Verdicts for both criminal and civil trials are reached by a judge or usually a panel of three judges, who have to base their verdicts on the law and their conviction. A judge is also a law school graduate and can be one of the following:

The criminal judges serve at a penal court. These courts (mahkeme(ler)) are separated into ağır ceza (assize court), asliye ceza (penal court of first instance), and sulh ceza (penal court of peace). The civil judges serve at civil courts of first instance or at civil courts of peace (sulh or asliye hukuk mahkemeleri), while administrative judges serve in administrative courts (idari mahkemeler). The Supreme Council of Judges and Public Prosecutors (Hâkimler ve Savcılar Yüksek Kurulu) deals with the admission of judges and public prosecutors of courts of justice and administrative courts into the profession, appointments, transfers to other posts, the delegation of temporary powers, promotion to the first category, the allocation of posts; decisions concerning those whose continuation in the profession is found to be unsuitable; the imposition of disciplinary penalties and removal from office. After the Constitutional amendment which took place 2010, the composition of The High Council of Judges and Prosecutors was completely changed. It currently consists of 22 members. Ten members out of 22 are elected among the judges and prosecutors by their colleagues working in first instance courts. While five members are supreme judges elected by other supreme judges, four members of High Council are appointed among lawyers and law professors by the President of Republic and one comes from Judicial Academy. Minister of Justice is the president of High Council and The Undersecretary of the Justice Minister is also an ex-officio member. In the existing system, the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors has its own Secretariat. In addition, the Inspection Board operates under the authority of High Council.

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Wikipedia