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Crisis over judge appointments persists after camera controversy
The crisis over the appointments first sparked after the Judges and Prosecutors Association (YARSAV) appealed to the Council of State to nullify the recent appointments of 300 young judges, who were interviewed between April 5 and 22 after passing a written exam. YARSAV, however, argued that the appointments came in violation of the principle of equality as the interviews went unrecorded. According to YARSAV, the Ministry of Justice failed to ensure the “fair appointment” of judge candidates.
The Council of State initially sided with YARSAV, and issued a stay of execution on the appointments. The Ministry of Justice objected to the decision, and the court eventually withdrew its ruling. The Council of State has yet to make a final decision on the appointments.
The camera crisis over the appointments of judges first emerged in 2006. An appeal by YARSAV against the appointments of judges at the time resulted in a decision that allowed judge candidates to have their interviews video recorded. The system is still in practice for candidates who wish to be interviewed with the camera on. The Ministry of Justice has been working for the past four years to meet the need for more than 3,400 judges. But YARSAV finds a new way every year to annul the appointments.
According to Ministry of Justice officials, evaluating interviews of judge candidates who were video recorded during their interview necessitates a large team of legal experts and plenty of time. More than 600 candidates applied for an interview in April. Evaluating the video recordings of these interviews may take several months. This would mean the loss of a significant amount of time for some courts, which are in dire need of judges.
The Ministry of Justice still believes that the Council of State will decide in favor of YARSAV’s appeal and will order the ministry to video record all future interviews. If this is the case, the ministry will have to cancel the test and interview results of more than 800 judge candidates. Candidates whose tests and interview results are cancelled will have to redo both the test and the interview.
Appointments of senior judges, prosecutors still unclear
The appointments of senior judges and prosecutors remain unclear. There are rumors that the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) does not plan to retreat from its insistence on the removal of judges and prosecutors involved in high-profile criminal cases. The Ministry of Justice, however, does not plan to return to the negotiating table before the board agrees to drop plans to remove the judges and prosecutors.
In early August, the HSYK sought to change the judges and prosecutors in such cases as Ergenekon, Balyoz (Sledgehammer), Poyrazköy, Kafes (Cage) and Temizöz. The board prepared an additional list for the replacements and submitted it to the Ministry of Justice for approval. According to most observers, the list -- also known as the “pirate list” -- is aimed at facilitating the release of dozens of suspects charged in these cases from prison.
The Ministry of Justice is, however, not in favor of replacing these judges and prosecutors, and Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin stopped deliberations with the HSYK. A restart of deliberation over the appointments is unlikely before the Sept. 12 public referendum on a constitutional amendment package.
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