Government declares 2010 judicial reform year

 The Justice Ministry will present the action plan to the European Commission at the beginning of October. While many of the changes that will be made to the laws have been outlined, the Law on the Establishment, Powers and Functions of the Constitution Court, as well as the laws on the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) will be re-examined in line with the EU's final suggestions.

 With respect to transferring the role currently given to the Gendarmerie Command to maintain external security at the prisons to a new security force to be created under the Justice Ministry, the government seeks to gradually transfer to the new system by taking examples from EU countries into consideration.

 The government will prepare a new bill on this issue in line with the Gendarmerie Command and the General Staff's recommendations. But the first steps to withdraw the gendarmerie from prisons will definitely take place in 2010.

 Aside from these three arrangements, the draft will not undergo radical changes because it was prepared in line with the EU legal acquis. Many of these pieces of legislation are being handled by commissions set up in the Turkish Parliament. The opposition has been against a significant number of the reform laws that were referred to the Parliament prior to the July 22, 2007, general elections. The comprehensiveness of the laws and the length of time in which they would occupy the Parliament's agenda were among the most significant reasons as to why the laws were shelved. However, with the Judicial Reform Strategy Action Plan the government has pledged to implement these laws by 2011 at the latest. This deadline is also significant because it corresponds with the pre-election period, revealing that the government wants to complete the reform process before the general elections.

 Among the laws the government plans to put into effect in 2010 are the Turkish Trade Law, the Ombudsman Law and the Turkish Judges and Prosecutors Union Law. Important amendments will be to the Public Order and Security Undersecretary Law and the Turkish Citizenship law in 2010. The Public Order and Security Undersecretary's authorities in counterterrorism will be transferred to the Ministry of the Interior. One of the first changes that will be made to the Turkish Citizenship Law will be to allow people who were stripped of their Turkish citizenship during the Sept. 12, 1980, coup d'état to regain their citizenship. This is also an important step related to the Kurdish initiative.

 Within the frame of the right to a fair trial and weapons equality, judges and prosecutors will be granted the same status as part of efforts to increase defense efficiency. The National Judiciary Network Project (UYAP) will be expanded and additional services to allow citizens to initiate lawsuits via the system will be added. There will also be Kurdish, Arabic and Turkish interpreters available at courts.

As soon as the new parliamentary term begins on Oct. 1, Parliament will give priority to the debate of legal arrangements essential to the Kurdish initiative. If consensus is reached with opposition parties on the issue, the Parliament will be able to pass other reform laws quicker as well. The government will be putting forward its roadmap by presenting the Draft Judicial Reform Strategy to the EU before the EU Progress report is released on Oct. 14.

 According to the government's plan, long overdue laws that are critical for the EU reform process will be implemented first. Among these are laws that are much anticipated by the economic world, such as the 1,535-itemed Turkish Trade Law, the Debts Law and the Check Law.

 The fact that the Law on Political Parties, the Financing Politics Law and the Election Law and the yet-to-be-enacted Political Ethics Law are not on top of the government's priority list has attracted attention. The government plans to reach a consensus with the opposition parties over these controversial issues to the extent that they are able to reach an agreement over the democratization package. Preparations for a new constitution are also focused on the fate of these EU-inspired bills and the amendments to current legislation. A consensus platform to emerge on the Kurdish initiative issue will enable the Parliament to amend several articles in the new constitution and EU accession laws.

According to the Justice Ministry's Judicial Reform Strategy Action Plan, military court buildings will be transferred to outside of military zones as part of efforts to ensure fair trials and defense.