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Turkey
- Human Rights
The Turkish Ministry of Justice is working with
ISDLS to addresses issues of police conduct and oversight, freedom of expression,
and modernization of the criminal justice process; Turkey has been subject to
substantial international scrutiny and criticism on their handling of these matters.
In October/November 2002, an American team and members of the Turkish Ministries
of Justice and Interior collaboratively presented a series of seminars to hundreds
of Ministry of Justice judges and prosecutors in three cities in Turkey. The seminars
compared American and Turkish perspectives and experiences on the above topics,
and were the culmination of a year-long study and exchange project.
The
overwhelming success of the recently completed Turkey/US Legal Exchange Project
has led to the opportunity to collaborate with the Turkish Ministries of Justice
and the Interior to design a reform initiative. The objectives of the initiative
are to improve police conduct, to increase the protection of the right to freedom
of expression and to design mechanisms to modernize the criminal justice process.
Police
Conduct and Oversight
ISDLS plans to work with a small study group
of leading members of the Ministries of Justice and Interior to design a network
of bodies and mechanisms to improve the instance and handling of police misconduct
in Turkey. These bodies and mechanisms may include independent oversight bodies,
judicial monitoring (through a federal consent decree), a specialized prosecutorial
division for enforcement, and revised internal police review and disciplinary
procedures.
Freedom of Expression
ISDLS will collaborate
with the leading academicians and judicial officers in Turkey and the US to develop
a judicial directive presenting the official Turkish position on freedom of expression
issues that is consistent with the standards of the European Court of Human Rights.
This directive will be distributed to every member of the Turkish Ministries of
Justice and Interior, and will allow for greater consistency in domestic rulings
and enforcement on freedom of expression cases.
Modernization of the
Criminal Justice Process
ISDLS will also work with the Turkish Ministry
of Justice to design and implement trial alternatives to reduce the overwhelming
caseload of the Turkish prosecutor. A reduced caseload will allow the Turkish
prosecutor to resume the legal obligation to oversee the police investigation
in the pre-trial phase; it will also allow for a more timely access to justice.
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