Turkish citizens are resorting in vain to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in ever greater numbers as trust in their domestic courts erodes, the Law Society of England and Wales said as it made a joint submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council’s universal periodic review of Turkey on behalf of an international coalition of legal organisations.
“Judges’ and prosecutors’ independence have been systematically undermined in Turkey since the failed coup in 2016,” Law Society president Simon Davis said.
“Hundreds of judges, prosecutors and lawyers have been arrested, detained and convicted on charges of terrorism without credible evidence.
“Lawyers have been identified with and punished for their clients’ causes. More than 1,500 lawyers have been prosecuted, hundreds of them in mass trials.
“Lawyers who can still practise report intimidation and threats.
“This menacing environment undermines the right of every citizen to legal representation and a fair trial, which may explain why Turkish citizens submitted more than 57,000 petitions to the European Court of Human Rights in 2017.
“But that court will only take on cases where every domestic remedy has been exhausted, and it does not yet recognise that Turkish citizens have no effective domestic remedy, so they are being sent back to the Turkish courts in their thousands.”
Turkey’s chilling roll call of injustice includes:
- 57,039 petitions to the ECtHR in 2017 from Turkish citizens, 25,000 of which rejected for failure to exhaust domestic remedies
- 4,260 judges and prosecutors dismissed
- 634 judges and prosecutors convicted on terrorism charges
- 1,546 lawyers prosecuted, 311 sentenced to a total of 1,967 years in prison
- 599 lawyers arrested and detained
“Turkey must protect the independence of lawyers, judges and prosecutors – in legislation and in practice – so that they can perform their professional duties without intimidation and improper interference,” Simon Davis said.
“The rule of law and the independence of the legal profession are essential foundations for political, social and economic stability.
“The Law Society and the international legal profession will continue to support our colleagues working in such difficult conditions and do whatever we can to help restore meaningful access to justice for all in Turkey.”
Notes to editors
- Download the international legal organisations' coalition’s UN submission (PDF)
- European Court of Human Rights statistics (PDF)
The international coalition of legal organisations submitting evidence to the United Nations Human Rights Council’s universal periodic review of Turkey:
The Law Society of England and Wales
International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute
Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales
Conseil National des Barreaux
European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights
Lawyers for Lawyers
Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada
Norwegian Bar Association, Human Rights Committee
International Observatory of Endangered Lawyers
Paris Bar, Human Rights Institute
German Bar Association, Human Rights Committee
Geneva Bar Association, Human Rights Commission
Abogacía Española – Consejo General
UIA – International Association of Lawyers
About the Law Society
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Press office contact: Harriet Beaumont | harriet.beaumont@lawsociety.org.uk | +44 (0)20 8049 3854 (out of hours +44 (0)203 189 1880)
