Erdoğan: Necessary Reforms Are Being Made, Will Be Made

"The ancients say that when there is justice, there is no need for bravery. "You are people who have been selected, trained and assigned to carry out such a vital duty in terms of state and social life," said President Erdoğan, adding: "I hope you will fulfill such a duty as the responsibility of making decisions on behalf of the Turkish nation with all your might." I would especially like to underline that you should be careful to adhere to the principle of the rule of law while performing your duty. Turkey is a country that has paid a heavy price for the pain caused by the institutions that were supposed to provide justice in the past being placed under the command of other powers. Extraordinary times when the justice of the strong prevailed instead of the power of justice, left deep traces in our nation's memory. "It caused trauma and caused irreparable damage to the citizens' trust in the state," he said.

Noting that they are waging a tough struggle to strengthen our justice organization, President Erdoğan noted that they determined strengthening our justice system as one of our four basic priorities while making the biggest democracy and development breakthroughs in the history of our Republic.

Stating that they appeared before the nation with the promise of elevating Turkey on health, education and security as well as justice, Erdoğan said: “On the one hand, we waged a difficult struggle to implement the necessary regulations in our constitution and basic laws together with our parliament, and on the other hand, to strengthen our justice organization. We worked hard to turn our justice organization, which was once under the control of one-party fascism, once under tutelage, and once under the control of FETO, into a power that makes decisions on behalf of our nation. "Didn't we all witness a postmodern coup with the support of the judiciary during the February 28 period, and a coup attempt with the support of the judiciary on December 17-25 and July 15?" asked.

“WE CONTINUE TO IMPROVE THE LEGISLATION OF OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM”

"Of course, like the legislature and the executive, our judiciary still has problems and problems that need to be solved," said Erdoğan, adding, "Some of these are related to the changes that need to be made in our constitution and laws. Some of the problems arise from institutional functioning, differences in understanding between institutions and old habits. In this context, we continue the reforms we initiated to improve the legislative infrastructure of our justice system. We shared our Judicial Reform Strategy Document, which constitutes the next phase of the work we have previously implemented, with the public in 2019. "We are following our road map in this document step by step," he said.

“THE JUDICIAL PACKAGE WILL BE FOLLOWED BY NEW ONES NEXT TERM”

The process of appointing a guardian to convicts is no longer automatic and is left to these individuals' own decisions. Pointing out that the act of committing a crime on behalf of an organization, even though one is not a member of the organization, has become a separate crime, considering the reasons for annulment of the Constitutional Court, President Erdoğan said: "It is possible to appeal against the decisions to postpone the announcement of the verdict, especially against this. Guarantees are being introduced to ensure stronger protection of individuals' rights regarding the processing and transfer of personal data abroad. "This judicial package, which I believe will be implemented with the discretion of our parliament, will be followed by new ones in the coming period," he said.

Later, with the participation of Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç, draws were held for Judicial Judges, Public Prosecutors and Administrative Jurisdiction Judges.