President of the Turkish Constitutional Court Mr. Zühtü Arslan, Justice Mr. Serruh Kaleli and Rapporteur Judge Mr. Aydın Şimşek participated, on behalf of Turkey, in the international conference on “the Constitutional Court: Protector of the Rule of Law” held in Bangkok between 6 and 11 April.
In the conference, President Mr. Arslan made a representation titled “the Turkish Constitutional Court as the Defender of the Rule of Law and Human Rights”.

Indicating in his speech that the principles of rule of law and human rights are inseparable and inherent in one another, President Mr. Arslan emphasized the role of the constitutional courts in the protection of these principles. Pointing out the individual application mechanism which is an effective remedy for the protection of human rights, Mr. Arslan addressed the significance, for a state governed by rule of law and for human rights, of implementation of the judgments rendered through individual application mechanism in line with the Constitutional Court’s judgments.

The President provided statistical information with respect to the individual applications lodged after the attempted coup of 15 July and accordingly underlined that the individual application mechanism has been functioning properly even during the state of emergency.

In the course of the conference and events organized, the delegation of the Turkish Constitutional Court negotiated and exchanged information with the members of the Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Institutions (AACC), notably delegation of the Thai Constitutional Court, as well as the delegations of the Indonesian and Korean Constitutional Courts.