Within the scope of “Strengthening the Institutional Capacity of the Court of Cassation” jointly carried out by the Court of Cassation and the Council of Europe, the international symposium on “Excellence in High Courts of Appeal” was held online on 04 June 2021.

The President of the Court of Cassation Mr. Mehmet AKARCA, in his opening speech at the symposium, expressed that the foundation of the judicial system is based on the trust of the public in the independence and impartiality of the courts, the integrity of judges and the efficiency of judicial processes, and that the reform works carried out by the Court of Cassation in recent yeas are built on three main pillars: ethics, transparency and the efficiency of the judiciary. 

Stating that more detailed guides specific to each type of court are needed in order to talk about a true court excellence, Mr. Akarca added: “I think the high courts that act on this issue deserve a separate category.”

Emphasizing the importance of the Court of Cassation’s successful implementation of measurement and evaluation systems by developing some court tools in recent years, Mr. Akarca stated that the reforms in court management provided significant progress in terms of effectiveness and efficiency.

With the symposium, it is aimed to integrate this knowledge in the international arena with the experience and culture of the Court of Cassation by making use of the experiences of the National Center for State Courts, the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ), International Framework for Court Excellence and High Court of Spain.

The symposium, which was held in two sessions, was attended by the First Vice Presidents of the Court of Cassation, Heads of Chambers, Secretary General and Members of the Court of Cassation, rapporteur judges and public prosecutors of the Court of Cassation, as well as Head of the Council of Europe Programme Office in Ankara Mr. Cristian URSE, Vice President of the Court Consulting Services Division, National Center for State Courts of the United States of America Mr. Daniel HALL, Former President of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice and Member of the Bureau Mr. Georg STAWA, President-Elect of the American Judges Association’s Executive Committee and Board of Governors and Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Guam, Mr. Robert J. TORRES, CCJE Representative from Spain and Senior Judge of the 2nd Section Administrative Chamber of the National High Court of Spain, Mr. Manuel FERNANDEZ-LOMANA.

With the adoption of Court of Cassation Codes of Conduct in the last quarter of 2017, many mechanisms have been established for the proper functioning of the judicial ethics system, the most important of these is “Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee”. Established in a transparent and democratic way, the Committee is independent from the governing and disciplinary bodies and is considered as the most important guarantee of the adaptation power of ethical principles to changing conditions. Hence, in order to wider disseminate the decisions of the Committee and develop a common understanding of judicial ethics in Türkiye, “Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee Decisions Symposium” was organized in Ankara on October 11, 2019.

Click here for Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee Decisions and the Relevant Legislation Book

Click here for the brochure of Judicial Ethics Advisory Committe

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

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