Inaugural Congress of the Conference of Constitutional Jurisdictions of the Islamic World, which was addressed to the higher jurisdictions of the Islamic countries, started on 23 December 2022 at the Dolmabahçe Palace, İstanbul.

The congress was attended by President Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Minister of Justice Mr. Bekir Bozdağ, President of the Council of State Mr. Zeki Yiğit, Vice-Presidents and Justices of the Constitutional Court, as well as 136 members of the higher jurisdictions from 36 Islamic countries.

The opening speeches of the Congress were delivered by President of the Republic of Türkiye Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President of the Turkish Constitutional Court Mr. Zühtü Arslan.

During his speech, President Arslan stressed that the constitutional jurisdiction mainly served to safeguard fundamental rights and freedoms by ensuring the supremacy of the constitution and also noted that the full and proper fulfilment of this function was conditional upon the realisation of constitutional principles and values such as justice, equality, freedom, rule of law and separation of powers enshrined in constitutions.

“All religions have been predicated upon law and justice.”

Indicating that the constitutional principles and values may be worded in different ways in respective times and places, President Arslan expressed that the values ensuring social and political unity were rooted in different cultures and civilizations. In this sense, he stated:

“For instance, justice has been recognized as one of the fundamental values in all societies throughout history, because the maintenance of social life is contingent on justice. Likewise, the means for securing justice is law. For the very reason, all religions that offer a set of values for an ideal society have been predicated upon law and justice.”

Stating that justice and other universal values deriving from justice, such as equality, fundamental rights and freedoms were also emphasized in other sources of Islam, President Arslan also noted “Among the messages that begin with 'O people!' are the essential principles of sound social life, such as the prohibition of discrimination, the protection of life, property and progeny, the individuality of crimes and punishments, and the freedom of religion and conscience.”

“Our civilisation will be a panacea also for the problems experienced in the world.”

President Arslan underlined that the principles and values falling within the scope of constitutional jurisdiction were not unfamiliar to us and, on the contrary, they were our core values. He also added “The realisation of the values of our civilisation, which has a rich collection of intellectual and discursive knowledge, such as justice, equality and freedom, will be a panacea for the problems experienced not only in the Muslim geography but also in the world.”

He further noted that for the fulfilment of the principle of the state governed by rule of law that was in pursuance of fundamental rights and freedoms, the judicial bodies, especially the higher courts engaging in constitutionality review, were entrusted with great responsibilities. Pointing out that the function of the State, notably of the judiciary among the State’s organs, was to obviate tyranny and secure justice, thus protecting the individuals’ rights, President Arslan expressed “In this sense, the main duty incumbent on the judge is to secure the rights enjoyed by individuals, namely to 'protect the rights of people' as expressed by Ibn Khaldun.”

Ending his speech, President Arslan laid emphasis on the significance of the cooperation and the exchange of experience among constitutional courts undertaking duties of a similar nature and higher judicial bodies conducting constitutionality review and expressed his belief that the Conference of Constitutional Jurisdictions of the Islamic World offered a unique opportunity in this respect.

Click for the opening speech delivered by President Zühtü Arslan.