Article (9) of the Constitution: judicial power is exercised by independent and impartial courts, on behalf of the Turkish nation.
Judicial authority: represented by the Judicial Council, where:
- the council and the public prosecutors shall supervise the work of the judiciary.
- the council consists of (13) members.
- board members: Minister of justice (one member), Deputy Minister of justice (one member), Members appointed by the parliament (7 members) and Members nominated by the head of state from a list proposed to him (4 members).
Types of courts and their functions:
The Constitutional Court, the court of Cassation, the State Council and the court of jurisdictional disputes are the Supreme Courts mentioned in the judicial section of the Constitution. The courts operate within the framework of civil law.
The Constitutional Court:
- To check whether the laws are compatible with the Constitution.
- Since 2005, it has been evaluating the legal principles enshrined in various international human rights treaties.
- Government institutions, ruling parties and the opposition shall have direct access to the court.
- Citizens can also argue about the unconstitutionality of a particular law in an ongoing lawsuit.
- International treaties, when ratified by parliament, have the same hierarchical effect as codes and laws. However, the provisions of international treaties that include fundamental rights and freedoms prevail against domestic laws and legislation.
- There are also specialized courts for some legal areas within the scope of the powers of civil courts, such as Cadastral Courts, Commercial Courts, Consumer Courts, Intellectual and Industrial Property Courts, and labor courts.
- In some disputes, some quasi-legal authorities must be used before applying to the court such as the Sports Arbitration Committee, the arbitration committee of the Turkish Football Federation.
The term of adjudication of lawsuits in Turkey:
The term of filing a case has to do with the type of court before which it is filed, and relates to the nature of the proceedings in quantitative terms.
Although the Ministry of Justice has set terms for adjudication of cases, however, on the ground it takes much longer than what is received from the Ministry of justice, and the specific terms are as follows:
- conciliation court: (91) days.
- labor court: (417) days.
- protection of intellectual and industrial rights: (377) days.
- civil court of First Instance: (278) days.
- consumer court: (250) days.
- execution courts: (97) days.
- Family Law Court: (147) days.
- Commercial Court: (231) days.
- Court of proof of ownership and survey: (586) days
