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Turkish secular judges warn ruling Islamic party against constitutional reforms

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Secular Turkish judges have warned that amendments to the Turkish constitution proposed by the country's ruling Islamic Justice and Development Party (AKP) that would include restructuring the Constitutional Court are going too far to promote an Islamic agenda. Head of the Council of State, the country's high administrative court, Mustafa Birden said Saturday that an amendment that threatened secularism would violate both international and domestic law. Birden called for a consensus among political parties on constitutional amendments. On Monday, chief judge of the Court of Appeals Hasan Gerceker, said that conditions are not right for constitutional amendments at the moment and that the judiciary must maintain its independence and should not be chosen by political parties. The judges' recent comments are the latest examples of tension between pro-secularists and the AKP. In July, the Constitutional Court narrowly rejected a bid to ban the AKP, which was accused of ignoring the secular principles of the country's constitution. Six of the 11 judges on the court favored dissolving the party, but seven would have been required to successfully pass the ban. The court agreed that the party violated the constitution's secular principles, but only ordered that the state treasury reduce the party's funding by half in response. Constitutional reforms are currently an issue as Turkey seeks European Union (EU) accession. The EU has told Turkey to amend its constitution that was written under military rule and limits freedom of expression and freedom of religion.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on May 13, 2009 (boomark / email).