Within the scope of the Inaugural Congress of the Conference of Constitutional Jurisdictions of the Islamic World, which started with the opening speeches delivered by President of the Turkish Constitutional Court Mr. Zühtü Arslan and President of the Republic of Türkiye Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, a symposium was held on 23 December 2022 at the Swissotel the Bosphorus in İstanbul.

At the first session on “the Role of Higher Courts in the Protection of Fundamental Rights”, which was moderated by Vice-President of the Constitutional Court Mr. Hasan Tahsin Gökcan, the Presidents and Heads of the constitutional courts of the Islamic countries made presentations on the topic. 

The second session on “Different Models of Constitutionality Review in the Islamic Countries” was moderated by Vice-President of the Constitutional Court Mr. Kadir Özkaya. During the sessions lasting throughout the day, the members of the higher jurisdictions made presentations and exchanged views and ideas on the relevant issues.

The Conference of Constitutional Jurisdictions of the Islamic World (CCJ-I) was officially established

Inaugural Congress of the CCJ-I, hosted by the Constitutional Court of Republic of Türkiye, was held in İstanbul on 24 December 2022.

Among the participants attending the Congress were presidents, heads and representatives of 32 constitutional and higher courts from the Islamic world as well as of the respective international institutions exercising constitutional jurisdiction.  

During the Congress, it was recalled, referring to the İstanbul Declaration of 15 December 2018 and the Bandung Declaration of 17 September 2021, that an official and independent judicial platform be established for the constitutional jurisdictions of the Islamic world.

The draft Statute prepared by the Working Committee, which was authorised by the Bandung Declaration, was also adopted upon deliberations, thereby the Conference of Constitutional Jurisdictions of the Islamic World was officially established. Following the signing ceremony of the Statute, the İstanbul Declaration proclaiming the official establishment of the CCJ-I was read out by Justice of the Turkish Constitutional Court Mr. Engin Yıldırım.

Statute of the Conference of Constitutional Jurisdictions of the Turkic World (TÜRK-AY) was Adopted

The Statute of the Conference of Constitutional Jurisdictions of the Turkic World (TÜRK-AY), which was established on 22-24 April 2022, was adopted and signed in İstanbul on 24 December 2022. The signing ceremony was attended by Members of the Conference, which are the Republic of Türkiye, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic and Republic of Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus attended the Conference as guests.

President of the Constitutional Court Mr. Zühtü Arslan was elected as the first-term President of both the Conference of Constitutional Jurisdictions of the Islamic World (CCJ-I) and the Conference of Constitutional Jurisdictions of Turkic World (TÜRK-AY).

Click for the İstanbul Declaration.