Updates July 6, 2020 – The Bill was passed by the Justice Commission of the Parliament and referred to the General Assembly for final deliberation and voting. What does the Bill bring? Draft law reduces leading bar associations’ authority, leads… Read More ›
Turkish Government posed to intervene into elections of Bar Associations. The Government’s purpose is to diminish the influence of the Bar Associations of Turkey’s large cities, which are sensitive about the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary, women’s rights and human rights violations. Bar Associations, such as Ankara, Diyarbakir, Sanliurfa, Antalya and Izmir, are also very sensitive to torture and enforced disappearance complaints, and have published several reports documenting such incidents, which has disturbed the Government.
Our second interview with Mr Manuel Soares who is president of the Union Association of the Portuguese Judges (Associação Sindical dos Juízes Portugueses). The ASJP is the champion on protecting the independence of the judiciary in Europe. According to some scholars the ECJ’s judgment in the case filed by ASJP is arguably one of the most important judgments as regards the principle of the rule of law in the EU legal system.
Joint report by the Arrested Lawyers Initiative, The Italian Federation for Human Rights – Italian Helsinki Committee, Human Rights Defender e.V. named ‘Impunity: An Unchanging Rule in Turkey’.
We have initiated a new project in which we will publish a series of brief interviews with prominent European lawyers, academics and executives of judges’ associations. Our first interview is with Adv. Francesco Caia, who is the Coordinator for Human Rights and International Relations of the Italian National Bar Association (CNF) and Vice-President of the International Observatory for Endangered Lawyers.
The cover of this report shows the dramatic figures of the repression against lawyers in Turkey. Colleagues unjustly stripped of their families, their friends, their profession, their freedom. An unbearable reality