He emphasized that if a problem is solved through the law while it can be solved in other ways, it will get bigger as time passes by saying “The Assembly was virtually turned into a law factory.” He said, “There are many things, particularly the Constitution, to be changed. There have been some changes, and there will be; yet there is something ignored. The judicial reform is a reform made by people and it is not merely an amendment on paper. We, as a society, have been in a period of change. The faster we are in completing the period of change, the more we move forward.” He also emphasized that the legal education in Turkey is unsatisfactory. Cemil Çiçek also said, “The sooner Turkey makes amendments in the Constitution, the more problems disappear. For a long time, the Constitution itself has been a problem. “

 

After the second session, the third session started. While the session was chaired by the State Security Court Prosecutor (R) Mete Göktürk, Assoc. Prof. Faruk Bilir from the Department of Law in Selçuk University, Prof. Dr. İlyas Doğan from the Department of Law in Gazi University, Assoc. Prof. Mustafa Şentop from the Department of Law in Marmara Universtity, and member of Radio and Television Supreme Council Prof. Dr. Hasan Tahsin Fendoğlu were the speakers of the session “the Independence and Objectivity of the Judiciary and the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors”. What is talked at the conference in brief is below:

 

Mete Göktürk: The first requirement of a fair judicial system is considered to be an objective judiciary in everywhere in the world. And the objectivity of judiciary is related to its non-dependence on any institution. Even in primitive ages, the judiciary was paid attention to have a special position in the society. A philosopher depicts justice as “a moral knowledge based on respect to rights and truths”. What we deduce from it is that justice is a concept that was brought up by powerful people in order to keep the society united by using limitless power. Thus, it is a concept based on super natural powers.

 

Faruk Bilir: I am thinking of making a speech on Venice Commission Criteria. Venice Commission, indeed, thinks that the role of Minister of Justice in the judicial council and the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors can cause some problems of trust. However, it is very common in European countries. What I want to touch upon is that Minister of Justice may well have a role in this institution as long as he gives no harm to Ministry of Justice and the judicial council.

 

İlyas Doğan: A German depicts justice as the judicial decisions in accordance with the general expectations of the society. In other words, the judicial decisions in general should be anticipated in accordance with the general conscience and the perception of justice of the society.

After the attacks in the USA for which Al-Qaeda was held responsible, some steps in order to strengthen the state authority were taken in the world. However, at this point what should be paid attention is not to risk the lives of innocent people.

 

Mustafa Şentop: InTurkey, there is a problem with judiciary in general sense and I think this problem has two main titles. The first one is related to human factor that we discuss and I think the second one is the problems with the legal system culture and the legal system mentality in Turkey. It is not possible to solve the judiciary problem in turkey without solving these two problems. The separate problems of judiciary from the establishment of the republic to May 27 Coup might have been discussed. However, the fact that the judiciary has been turned into a crisis center or a factor of crisis in the system of Turkey is not a matter of discussion.

 

Hasan Tahsin Fendoğlu: It is possible tosay thatthe independence and objection of judiciary were considered more important in the past than today. I worked on the independence of judiciary in a study of mine in 1997. When analyzed, it seems as if the judiciary merely gains its independence against the politics. When we look at the history, we see that there were not any courts of appeals. The judiciary should be absolutely independent. As far as I am concerned, the current judicial system is based on the mentality of “isolating the society” or “the elite’s voice in the administration”.