On January 24, 2025, the HRUG Regular Seminar explored the commonalities and conflicts between judicial independence and liberal democracy, taking the Can Atalay Case in T\u00fcrkiye as an example. The seminar was presented by lawyer Veli Can \u00c7inar and chaired by Joe Finnerty (a social policy analyst, School of Applied Social Studies, University College Cork, Republic of Ireland). Participants included Associate Professor Li Juan (a researcher of CSU Human Rights Center), Professor Mehmet Okyayuz from the Department of Political Science at Middle East Technical University in T\u00fcrkiye, Krish Chetty (a research assistant at the Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa) and other scholars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lawyer Veli Can \u00c7inar began by briefly introducing the background of the Can Atalay case. Can Atalay, a member of the opposition party in Turkish parliament, was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2022 for allegedly attempting to overthrow the government and organizing protests. In May 2023, Can Atalay was elected as a member of parliament representing the Workers\u2019 Party of T\u00fcrkiye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The core dispute in the case revolves around whether Can Atalay is entitled to the immunity granted by the Turkish Constitution due to his status as a member of parliament. According to Article 83, Paragraph 2 of the Turkish Constitution, members of parliament accused of crimes before or after their election cannot be detained, interrogated, arrested, or tried without the permission of the parliament, except in cases of flagrant offenses or if the investigation begins before the election and involves violations of Article 14. In such exceptional cases, the relevant authorities must immediately notify Grand National Assembly of T\u00fcrkiye. Can Atalay\u2019s defense lawyer argued that, based on the Turkish Constitution, Can Atalay should enjoy immunity due to his parliamentary status. However, the Third Criminal Chamber of the Turkish Court of Cassation rejected this claim, stating that the serious crimes punishable under Article 14 of the Constitution constitute a limitation on parliamentary immunity. Can Atalay then appealed to the Constitutional Court, which ruled that his \u201cright to be elected and participate in political activities\u201d and \u201cright to personal liberty and security\u201d had been violated. The Constitutional Court ordered the Third Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation to retry the case, suspend the execution of the sentence and release him. However, the Third Criminal Chamber not only refused to implement the Constitutional Court\u2019s ruling but also declared that the ruling should not be enforced and initiated criminal charges against members of the Constitutional Court. This case has sparked widespread controversy over judicial independence and the enforceability of Constitutional Court rulings in T\u00fcrkiye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The judicial conflict between the Constitutional Court and the Court of Cassation has further complicated the case. Veli Can \u00c7inar believed that this conflict reflects the politicization of law within the Turkish judicial system. He further noted that the Gezi Park protests served as an important backdrop to this case, as they were one of the largest uprisings against the ruling party. Can Atalay gained prominence for his defense work during those protests. Veli Can \u00c7inar emphasized that if members of a political party are allowed to participate in elections and are elected as parliamentarians, they should enjoy the corresponding rights, which is a crucial aspect of democracy. However, with the politicization of law continues in Europe, some countries act in ways that contradict their proclaimed values of liberal democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, the participants discussed the potential outcomes and implications of the case under these circumstances, linking it to broader international developments. Whether the Third Criminal Chamber of the Turkish Court of Cassation will enforce the Constitutional Court\u2019s ruling remains unclear. The attendees agreed that the enforcement of the court\u2019s decision would directly impact the credibility of the judiciary. In this case, due to judicial conflicts and politicization, enforcement has become highly challenging. If the ruling is not properly enforced, the legitimate rights of the parties involved will not be protected, leading to public dissatisfaction and skepticism toward the judiciary and undermining its credibility. Therefore, the outcome of this case is of utmost importance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2025\u5e741\u670824\u65e5\uff0cHRUG\u53ec\u5f00\u5b9a\u671f\u7814\u8ba8\u4f1a\u63a2\u8ba8\u53f8\u6cd5\u72ec\u7acb\u4e0e\u81ea\u7531\u6c11\u4e3b\u7684\u5171\u6027\u4e0e\u51b2\u7a81\uff1a\u4ee5\u571f\u8033\u5176Can Atalay\u6848\u4e3a\u4f8b\u3002\u672c\u6b21\u4f1a\u8bae\u7531Veli Can \u00c7inar\u5f8b\u5e08\u4e3b\u8bb2\uff0c\u7231\u5c14\u5170\u56fd\u7acb\u79d1\u514b\u5927\u5b66\u5e94\u7528\u793e\u4f1a\u7814\u7a76\u5b66\u9662\u653f\u7b56\u5206\u6790\u5bb6Joe Finnerty\u4e3b\u6301\u3002\u4e2d\u5357\u5927\u5b66\u4eba\u6743\u7814\u7a76\u4e2d\u5fc3\u7814\u7a76\u5458\u9ece\u5a1f\u526f\u6559\u6388\u3001\u571f\u8033\u5176\u4e2d\u4e1c\u79d1\u6280\u5927\u5b66\u653f\u6cbb\u5b66Mehmet Okyayuz\u6559\u6388\u3001\u5357\u975e\u4eba\u7c7b\u79d1\u5b66\u7814\u7a76\u59d4\u5458\u4f1a\u7814\u7a76\u52a9\u7406Krish Chetty\u7b49\u5b66\u8005\u53c2\u4e0e\u4e86\u6b64\u6b21\u8ba8\u8bba\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Veli Can \u00c7inar\u5f8b\u5e08\u9996\u5148\u7b80\u8981\u4ecb\u7ecd\u4e86Can Atalay\u6848\u4ef6\u80cc\u666f\u3002\u571f\u8033\u5176\u5728\u91ce\u515a\u56fd\u4f1a\u8bae\u5458Can Atalay\u56e0\u88ab\u6307\u63a7\u8bd5\u56fe\u63a8\u7ffb\u653f\u5e9c\uff0c\u8fd8\u4e0e\u591a\u4eba\u4e00\u540c\u7ec4\u7ec7\u6297\u8bae\u6d3b\u52a8\uff0c\u4e8e2022\u5e74\u88ab\u5224\u590418\u5e74\u76d1\u7981\u5e76\u5165\u72f1\u30022023\u5e745\u6708\uff0cCan Atalay\u4ee3\u8868\u571f\u8033\u5176\u5de5\u4eba\u515a\u88ab\u9009\u4e3a\u56fd\u4f1a\u8bae\u5458\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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(Transcription: Yuou Dai, Yuxin Wang; Translation: Yaxing Bai\uff09<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On January 24, 2025, the HRUG Regular Seminar explored the commonalities and conflicts between judicial independence and liberal democracy, taking the Can Atalay Case in T\u00fcrkiye as an example. The seminar was presented by lawyer Veli Can \u00c7inar and chaired by Joe Finnerty (a social policy analyst, School of Applied Social Studies, University College Cork, … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-631","page","type-page","status-publish"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrug.legal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrug.legal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrug.legal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrug.legal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrug.legal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=631"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrug.legal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":633,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrug.legal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/631\/revisions\/633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrug.legal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}