When he was a deputy president, Kılıç had offered to reform the top court. One of his proposals was to increase the number of members to 17 from 11, four to be elected by Parliament. He also suggested that individual applications should be able to be accepted by the court.
The Justice Ministry’s action plan for judicial reform includes changes to the structure of the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) that are making some people uneasy, with tweaks that include increasing the number of board members from seven to 21 and giving Parliament a voice alongside the president in their selection.
Kılıç’s suggestions go back to 2004 when he offered his solutions to the problems in the judiciary system regarding the Constitutional Court. Recommending that the top court should be restructured, he had also stated that the court should have two chambers and a general assembly.
According to Kılıç’s comparative study, in nine out of 28 countries the members of the top court are elected by parliaments. For Turkey, Kılıç suggests that two of the four members who are to be elected by Parliament should be selected from six candidates -- three suggested by the Higher Education Board (YÖK) and another three suggested by the Bar Associations. The other two members are to be elected by Parliament from the members of the Court of Accounts.
Kılıç was also against the argument that the court would be politicized if some of its members were elected by Parliament. In order to secure the impartiality of the judges, Kılıç suggests cutting ties between the members of the court and the deputies. There has been tension between the government and the judiciary after the Justice Ministry attempted judicial reform. There also increasing debate in the country regarding the role of the military judiciary creating the problem of a dual headed judiciary.
