Swearing-In Ceremony of Mr. Kenan Yaşar at the Constitutional Court

Swearing-in ceremony of the newly-elected Justice Mr. Kenan Yaşar 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, Chairman of the Republican People’s Party Mr. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, President of the Court of Cassation Mr. Mehmet Akarca, President of the Council of State Mr. Zeki Yiğit, Minister of Justice Mr. Bekir Bozdağ 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. Kenan Yaşar welcomed the guests.

As part of COVID-19 precautions, the ceremony was held with a limited number of guests in accordance with the social distance rule.

Delivering his speech following the stand in silence and the Turkish National Anthem, President Arslan congratulated Mr. Yaşar and wished him success in his new office, expressing his belief that Mr. Yaşar would contribute greatly to the Court with his experience as a self-employed lawyer as well as a chairman of the bar association.

President Arslan, noting that the duties of the justices of the Constitutional Court are summarised in the text of the oath, stated "As justices of the Court, we commit ourselves to protect the Constitution as well as fundamental rights and freedoms while embarking on the mission, like those exercising the legislative and executive powers. Making this commitment upon honour and dignity, which are considered as the most valuable elements of spiritual personality, demonstrates that the values ​​needed to be protected are indeed indispensable for our individual and social life”.

 “Justice is the basis of both country and state.”

President Arslan also stated “The peaceful existence of the individual, society and state is dependent on the rule of law as well as the determination and assurance of rights under a fair governance.

 “Justice should be secured, which should also be ensured in an apparent way.”

Noting that the Court fulfilled its duty to ensure constitutional justice by safeguarding fundamental rights and freedoms through the processes of constitutionality review and individual application, President Arslan specified that the Court continued adopting a rights-oriented approach in making decisions in both fields.

“Securing justice is not a matter of commitment or discourse but rather of action”

Indicating that the individual application mechanism, incorporated into the Turkish legal system through the constitutional amendment of 2010, had made significant contributions to the good administration of justice in the sense of the determination and assurance of rights, President Arslan noted:

“As emphasised in the Court’s judgments, individual application institution affords individuals a guarantee at the highest level for the protection and improvement of fundamental rights and freedoms. Nevertheless, our 10 years’ experience in this field has revealed that the effectiveness of this remedy is conditional upon the proper execution of the violation judgments. The Court has stated that the execution of judicial decisions is an element complementary to the trial process, and that in case of any failure to execute them, then the trial will also make no sense, which will apparently in turn undermine the public trust in law and the judiciary.”

President Arslan, stating that the objective pursued by individual application mechanism was not merely affording redress for the violation found in a given case, pointed to the erga omnes effect of individual application, which necessitated, in consideration of the violation judgments already rendered, the prevention of any further violations likely to occur on the same matter.

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

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