Established 1961 Location Ankara Phone +90 312 463 73 00 | Country Turkey Website www.anayasa.gov.tr | |
Address Ahlatlıbel Mahallesi, İncek Blv. No:4, 06805 Çankaya/Ankara, Turkey Hours Closed today SundayClosedMonday8:30AM–5:30PMTuesday8:30AM–5:30PMWednesday8:30AM–5:30PMThursday8:30AM–5:30PMFriday8:30AM–5:30PMSaturdayClosed Similar Danıştay Başkanlığı Binası, PTT, Yargıtay Cumhuriyet Başsavcıl, Türkiye İş Bankası Bankama, Court of Cassation Profiles | ||
Constitutional court of turkey
The Constitutional Court of Turkey (Turkish: Anayasa Mahkemesi) is the highest legal body for constitutional review in Turkey. It "examines the constitutionality, in respect of both form and substance, of laws, decrees having the force of law, and the Rules of Procedure of the Turkish Grand National Assembly" (Article 148 of the Turkish Constitution). If necessary, it also functions as the Supreme Criminal Court (Turkish: Yüce Divan) to hear any cases raised about the President of the Republic, members of the Council of Ministers, or presidents and members of the high courts.
Contents
Overview
Part Four, Section Two of the Turkish Constitution has established the Constitutional Court of Turkey that rules on the conformity of laws and decrees with the Constitution. It can rule on issues referred to it by the President of the Republic, the government, the members of Parliament, or any judge before whom an exception of unconstitutionality has been raised by a defendant or a plaintiff. The Constitutional Court has the right to both a priori and a posteriori review (respectively, before and after enactment), and it can invalidate whole laws or governmental decrees and prevent their application in future cases. Challenges to a law must be made within the first two months of its promulgation.
Organization
In accordance with Article 146 of the Constitution of Turkey, the Constitutional Court is composed of eleven regular and four substitute members. The President of Turkey appoints two regular members and two substitute members from the Court of Cassation, two regular members and one substitute member from the Turkish Council of State, and one member each from the Military Court of Cassation, the High Military Administrative Court of Appeals and the Court of Accounts, three candidates being chosen for each vacant office by the Plenary Assemblies of each court among their respective presidents and members with the absolute majority of the total number of members. The President also appoints one member from a list of three candidates nominated by the Higher Education Council among members of the teaching staff of institutions of higher education who are not members of the Council, and three regular members and one substitute member among senior administrative officers (usually from governors and ambassadors) and lawyers.
To qualify for appointments as regular or substitute members of the Constitutional Court, members of the teaching staff of institutions of higher education, senior administrative officers and lawyers are required to be over 40 and to have completed their higher education or to have served at least 15 years as a member of the teaching staff of institutions of higher education or to have actually worked at least 1t years in public service or to have practiced as a lawyer for at least 1t years.
The Constitutional Court elects a president and deputy president from among its regular members for a term of four years by secret ballot and by an absolute majority of the total number of members. They may be re-elected at the end of their term of office. The members of the Constitutional Court are not allowed to assume other official and private functions, apart from their main functions.
History
The Constitutional Court of Turkey was established on April 25, 1962, according to the provisions of the constitution of 1961. Prior to that date, absolute superiority of the parliament was adopted as a constitutional principle, with no judicial review. There existed no legal institution to review the constitutionality of laws passed by the parliament, and of acts and actions of governments. The social democratic opposition, intellectuals, and the military junta that came into power by military coup on May 27, 1960 supported limitation and control of the parliamentary power in the face of abuses of parliamentary majority by the Democratic Party governments (1950–60) under the premiership of Adnan Menderes. The Justice Party, a descendant of the Democratic Party; as well as Justice and Development Party have rejected the idea of judicial review, pushing for parliamentary superiority.
The first decision the court gave is dated September 5, 1962, which was published on the Official Gazette on October 3, 1962. It was about a direct petition by a certain İnaç Tureren for the annulment of an article of the Law of Criminal Procedure (Ceza Muhakemeleri Usûlü Kanunu - CMUK), which was claimed to be violating the provisions of Article 30 of the constitution. The court turned down the case, stating that individual application to the court was constitutionally impossible.
The first president of the court was Sünuhi Arsan, who served for two years (1962–64). Following the second (Ömer Lütfi Akadlı - 1964-66) and the third (İbrahim Senil - 1966-68) presidents, the court failed to elect a president for 29 months (until 1970) during which it was headed by an acting president.
The articles of the constitution regulating the structure of the court were slightly amended in 1971 and 1973.
Although the constitution of 1961 was annulled by the military regime that came into the power with the military coup of September 12, 1980, the court went on operating. It currently operates according to the constitution of 1982.