The İstanbul Declaration and the Implementation Measures were adopted in United Nations.

The İstanbul Declaration and the Implementation Measures were adopted in United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice where 192 countries are represented. The Draft Resolution was adopted in the Plenary Session on May 24th as a result of two-week meetings attended by the Deputy Secretary General of the Court of Cassation of the Republic of Türkiye and Project Manager of the Ethics, Transparency and Trust Project of the Court of Cassation Dr. Mustafa Saldırım, Senior Project Expert Gözde Hülagü and Project Expert Nihal Eriş. The First President of the Court of Cassation Honourable İsmail Rüştü Cirit congratulated The Project Team of the Court of Cassation, Ambassador of the Permanent Mission of Türkiye to the United Nations Office in Vienna Mr. Ahmet Muhtar Gün and the Deputy Ambassador Mr. Cenk Ünal and the Counsellor Mr. Hüseyin Hançer for their hard work. 

Click here for the video of the adoption of Draft Resolution.
Click here for Thank-you Speech.
Click here for Concept Note.
Click here for UN Resolution.
Click here for the speech delivered in the informal meeting on May 17th 
Click here for the speech delivered in the informal meeting on May 16th 

ISTANBUL DECLARATION IMPLEMENTATION MEASURES WERE ADOPTED AT THE 4TH INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT OF HIGH COURTS HOSTED BY THE COURT OF CASSATION IN ISTANBUL

The Court of Cassation is the leader in ensuring integrity and transparency in the judiciary

The 4th International Summit of High Courts was hosted by the Court of Cassation in Istanbul. Within the framework of the cooperation with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), chief justices, international experts and high level representatives of international organizations such as Council of Europe from five continents and 30 countries actively participated in the Summit, which was held on October 11-12, 2018.

At the meeting, where the Istanbul Declaration on Transparency was dicussed, the participants represented not only different continents and countries but also different legal systems and reflected their views. The Court of Cassation, which performed major reforms in ethics and transparency as an initiator in Türkiye within the context of Ethics, Transparency and Trust Project of the Court of Cassation, continues to lead in the international arena with these works.

The estanblishment of necessary mechanisms to ensure transparency, the legislative and secondary legislation and other measures were addressed in the scope of Istanbul Declaration Implementation Measures. In this way, it is aimed to provide guidance on the successful implementation of the principles.

Istanbul Declaration, the first and only text on transparency

The Istanbul Declaration on Transparency in the Judicial Process is a first in the field of transparency in the international arena. In this respect, which is extremely important for the protection of human rights, is of direct relevance to all countries in the world. With adoption and diffusion of Istanbul Declaration, many countries around the world including Türkiye is expected to strengthen the justice policies in terms of transparency.

Following the adoption of Istanbul Declaration on Transparency in the Judicial Process, the Istanbul Declaration Implementation Measures were adopted at the last summit

As a result of a long and systematic study, the Istanbul Declaration was adopted at the 3rd International Summit of High Courts in June 2016. The Draft Implementation Measures of the Istanbul Declaration on Transparency had been developed in Ankara in October 2017 with the attendance of international experts and heads of Chambers and judges of the Court of Cassation. At the 4th International Summit of High Courts held on 11-12 October 2018, the Draft Implementation Measures were accepted and finalized. In this way, the Summit successfully achieved its goal as planned.

The Istanbul Declaration on Transparency in the Judicial Process is an important milestone in the Judiciary’s Accountability to Society

The Istanbul Declaration is an important beginning for a transparent and accountable judicial system. Making all decisions public, ensuring that proceedings are followed up easily and free of charges and in a transparent way through electronic services, continuously increasing the service quality by measuring the satisfaction level of court users and lawyers, informing students and society about legal proceedings, multi-door courthouse system requires the necessity of new reforms in many areas, such as the one-stop principle in justice services.

The Istanbul Declaration is a model that organizes, systematises and establishes the best practices of service-oriented society in the comparative law. Due to its radical and structural changes, it opens the door to important reforms in the justice services in our country and in the world.

The Court of Cassation, which adopted the codes of conduct in the last quarter of last year and carried out a critical reform regarding enhancing the integrity in the judiciary, will have completed all structural reforms in terms of transparency by the end of this year. Following the completion of reforms on the best practices of the Istanbul Declaration, in January 2019, these works will be presented to the press and the public at a national conference. Hence, it is aimed to increase satisfaction level and confidence in the judiciary in case of public awareness about the rights and opportunities of the society in judicial services.

Click here to see the video of the 4th International Summit of High Courts

Click here to see the video of Istanbul Declaration

Click here for Istanbul Declaration and Implementation Measures

Click here for the 4th International Summit of High Courts website

Click here for the Evaluations of the international experts regarding the Summit

Having completed a long and exhausting training program on ethics, Ankara Faculty of Law and Hacettepe Faculty of Law students, who were entitled to be facilitators of “the Court of Cassation Judicial Codes of Conduct”, received their certificates. Within the scope of Ethics Week, the ceremony held on May 24, 2018 at the Court of Cassation was attended by the First President of the Court of Cassation İsmail Rüştü Cirit, the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Court of Cassation Mehmet Akarca, First Vice President and President of the General Assembly of Civil Chambers Mehmet Kürtül, First Vice President and President of the General Assembly of Criminal Chambers Abdulhalik Yıldız, President of the 4th Criminal Chamber Assoc. Prof. Dr. İbrahim Şahbaz, Secretary General Yusuf Ziyaattin Cenik and the bench members, rapporteur judges, public prosecutors and staff of the Court of Cassation who were in charge of trainings.

Vice President of the Justice Academy of Kazakhstan, Mr. Razzak Nazilya Razzakbayevna and the accompanying delegation visited the Court of Cassation to be informed about the Court of Cassation Codes of Conduct on May 11, 2018.

Yusuf Ziyaattin Cenik, Secretary General of the Court of Cassation, who received the Kazakhstan delegation in his Office, answered the delegation’s questions on the Turkish judicial system, the role of the Court of Cassation, appellate courts and alternative dispute resolution methods.

Deputy Secretary General of the Court of Cassation, Dr. Mustafa Saldırım informed the delegation about the Court of Cassation Codes of Conduct which was accepted at the last quarter of last year. During the presentation, the formation process and characteristics of the Court of Cassation Codes of Conduct, Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee, and the relationship between ethical principles,criminal law and disciplinary law were explained. Also “the Court of Cassation Judicial Codes of Conduct Law Clinic”, that are public access training programs aiming at spreading the Codes of Conduct to public were mentioned.

On 9-10 April 2018, President of the Court of Cassation İsmail Rüştü CİRİT, Deputy Secretary General of the Court of Cassation Dr. Mustafa SALDIRIM and Project Expert Gözde HÜLAGÜ attended the launch of the Global Integrity Network in Vienna, Austria. At the international meeting that has been attended upon the official invitation of UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime), Istanbul Declaration on Transparency in the Judicial Process and the Draft Implementation Measures, developed within the scope of the Ethics, Transparency and Trust Project of the Court of Cassation and Court of Cassation Code of Conduct that was adopted last year were shared with the presidents of supreme courts and international experts from five continents of the world and from different legal systems.

At the high level session titled as “Combating Corruption in the Justice System- Good Practices and Lessons Learned and the Role of Judicial Integrity Network”, President of the Court of Cassation Mr. İsmail Rüştü CİRİT delivered a speech, which was simultaneously translated into 6 languages, about the Court of Cassation Code of Conduct, Istanbul Declaration and Implementation Measures. In the framework of bilateral meetings, along with the Presidents of Supreme Courts, the progress of the Istanbul Declaration in the UN system, the development of transparency cooperation in the judiciary and the themes for the 4th Supreme Courts Summit to be held in October this year and the contributions to be made by the Court of Cassation to Judicial Integrity Network were discussed with the Head of UNODC's Division for Treaty Affairs, Mr. John BRANDOLINO. Mr. President İsmail Rüştü CİRİT was accompanied by Permanent Representative Ambassador to the UN, Mr. Ahmed Muhtar GÜN and Permanent Representative Officials Mr. Cenk ÜNAL and Mr. Ulaş SOYLU at the bilateral meeting.

Click here for President of the Court of Cassation İsmail Rüştü CİRİT’s speech

Click here for President of the Court of Cassation İsmail Rüştü CİRİT’s video recording

Click here for the information note

Click here for the report on thematic breakout sessions

Click here for the meeting schedule