Nilay Vardar
The Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV) examined the judicial packages which brought arrangements to the field of jurisdiction from March 2011 until April 2013 and presented the report titled “Judicial packages: An analysis from the viewpoint of rights and freedoms”.
The report that was put together by Naim Karakaya and Hande Özhabes, considered the judicial packages under four categories: Freedom of Thought and Expression, Right to Liberty and Security, Right to a Fair Trial and the Execution System.
In the report, it was stated that the judicial packages remained restricted in providing the necessary and long-awaited legislative improvements in the problematic fields that violate rights and freedoms. Therefore, it was expressed that the packages were revisions within the system, instead of reforms aimed at tranforming it.
The report provided the examples of legislative changes regarding “organised crime” and “the right to a court defense in the mother tongue” for the argument that the packages did not meet public expectations and that they fell behind social change.
A new mechanism that considers the suggestions of civil society organisations was demanded against the “omnibus bill” system, which prevents a clear understanding of judicial packages. (bianet)
