31 July 2009 / MUSTAFA ERDOĞAN, STAR
The Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) represents not judicial independence but the autocracy of a certain group of people inside the judiciary.
Here is how the system works: The HSYK members other than the justice minister and his undersecretary are elected by the Supreme Court of Appeals and the Council of State, but all of the members of the former and a quarter of the members of the latter are elected by the board. In a sense, a closed box system. Moreover, one has to be a first class judge or prosecutor in order to be elected to any of these institutions, and who will be considered first class is decided by the HSYK. And how do you think they decide a particular judge or prosecutor is first class? Basically, in full reliance on the confidential employment records and the notes prepared by the members of the Supreme Court of Appeals and the Council of State concerning judges and prosecutors. There is also an ideological aspect to this aristocracy in the judiciary. Yes, the HSYK, which is nothing but the Higher Education Board (YÖK) of the judiciary, must be abolished and replaced with a new board that functions in a more democratic manner, like its counterparts in Western democracies.
