Swearing-in ceremony of the newly-elected Justice Mr. İrfan Fidan was held at the Grand Tribunal Hall of the Constitutional Court.

President of the Republic of Turkey Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Mr. Mustafa Şentop, Vice-President Mr. Fuat Oktay, President of the Court of Cassation Mr. Mehmet Akarca, President of the Council of State Mr. Zeki Yiğit, Minister of Justice Mr. Abdulhamit Gül and members of the high judiciary and other guests attended the ceremony.

President of the Constitutional Court Mr. Zühtü Arslan, the Deputy-presidents and the new Justice Mr. İrfan Fidan welcomed the guests. As part of Covid-19 precautions, the ceremony was held with a limited number of guests.

Delivering his speech following the stand in silence and the Turkish National Anthem, President Arslan congratulated Mr. Fidan and wished him success in his new office. 

 “Turkish National Anthem is a manifesto of independence”

President Arslan, touching upon the national anthem during his speech as the Grand National Assembly of Turkey declared 2021 as the “Year of Turkish National Anthem”, stated “Turkish National Anthem is a manifesto of independence” and also added that it was a symbol uniting the community, which was safeguarded under the Constitution.

Stressing that the constitutional provisions are superior legal rules binding on the legislative, executive and judicial organs, the administrative authorities and natural and legal persons, President Arslan noted that the respect for rule of law and thereby the allegiance to the Constitution were also the requisite of the loyalty to the Turkish National Anthem as well as of the commitment to its spirit. 

 “As set forth in the Constitution, one of the competent bodies exercising sovereignty is the Constitutional Court”

President Arslan, indicating that one of the competent bodies exercising sovereignty was the Constitutional Court, underlined that the individual application mechanism was a significant reform and acquisition for the Turkish legal system. He further presented statistical information to point to the Constitutional Court’s success in concluding the individual applications, which were higher in number than those lodged in the European countries, emphasising that the individual application mechanism as the most efficient domestic legal remedy of the last resort, which was directly predicated on the Constitution, was being operated successfully in the country. Stating that the Constitutional Court raised the standards in terms of the constitutional rights and rule of law through its judgments, President Arslan indicated that certain issues might, however, come up in the execution of the judgments.

 “Administrative and judicial authorities are liable to comply with the Constitutional Court’s judgments”

President Arslan stated that the execution of the judgments issued by the Constitutional Court was not optional, for not being left to the discretion of the inferior courts, but a requisite stemming from the relevant Law.  He accordingly noted that “pursuant to Article 153 of the Constitution and Article 50 of Code no. 6216, the administrative and judicial authorities are liable to execute the Constitutional Court’s judgments” with a view to redressing the violation, which was found by the Constitutional Court, and avoiding future similar violations.

Noting that the binding nature and compulsory execution of the Constitutional Court’s judgments were also a guarantee for the protection of the constitutional rights and freedoms, President Arslan indicated that the non-execution of these judgments might render the Constitution completely devoid of purpose and dysfunctional, and that in cases where the Constitution became devoid of purpose and the confidence of individuals and the community in the legal system and the State was undermined, it could no longer be possible to preserve and maintain the common values uniting the community. 

President Arslan further noted that the Constitutional Court, exerting significant effort to realise the common constitutional values by adopting a right-oriented approach, was endeavouring to preserve universal values enshrined in the Constitution, such as justice, equality, fundamental rights and freedoms, sovereignty, independence and democratic state of law. Before ending his speech, he extended his thanks to the deputy-presidents, justices, rapporteur-judges and all other personnel working devotedly despite the pandemic that had a profound impact on the humanity.

After the speech of President Mr. Arslan, the swearing-in ceremony was proceeded with the presentation of the curriculum vitae of the new Justice Mr. İrfan Fidan, who then took his oath. Mr. Fidan was vested with his robe by President Mr. Arslan.

Click for the full text of the speech delivered by President Zühtü Arslan.