The court convened for a preliminary examination of the package early yesterday. The court’s president, Haşim Kılıç, said they will convene again on June 8 to discuss the details of the package.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) last month passed a package to amend the existing Constitution, which was drafted under a state of martial law following the 1980 coup d’état. The package was approved by Parliament after two rounds of voting on each of its articles. The CHP appealed the package shortly after it was signed by the president and is seeking annulment of the changes both in content and on procedural grounds, despite the prevailing opinion among legal experts that the court can only review the package on procedural grounds.
The package introduces various amendments, including important changes to the composition of the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) and the Constitutional Court. The CHP is most unnerved about the changes that aim to break the pro-status quo forces’ hold on the judiciary and democratize it.
Turkey’s prominent jurists and civil society organizations have for long expressed concern over the possibility of a move by the Constitutional Court to decide to examine the reform package on substance.
The Judges and Prosecutors Association for Democracy and Freedom, co-chaired by Osman Can, is planning to issue a call on the Constitutional Court next week to abide by laws and not to examine the substance of the reform package. The association will issue the call in a press conference to be joined by a large number of nongovernmental organizations, including the Human Rights Association (İHD), the Turkish Human Rights Foundation (TİHV), the Association of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed Peoples (MAZLUM-DER), Amnesty International (AI), the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly (HYD) and the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH).
A draft statement prepared by the Judges and Prosecutors Association for Democracy and Freedom warns that if the Constitutional Court examines the content of the constitutional amendment package and nullifies it, all future parliamentary attempts to amend the Constitution will be doomed to failure.
