Anyone with bachelor’s degree can become an administrative judge in Turkey

Any individual who has a completed a four-year university education will from now on be able to become an administrative judge in Turkey, according to a new presidential decree.

Decree No. 703 was issued on Tuesday by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who began his second term as president after taking the oath of office on Monday.

Vice president of the Union of Judges Nuh Hüseyin Köse tweeted on Tuesday that anyone with a four-year degree can become an administrative judge according to the new decree.

“The legal obstacle before graduates of four-year courses of study such as physiotherapy, veterinary medicine, French language, climate engineering, Sumerology and medicine has been lifted,” he wrote, adding that these people have been granted the right to take the examination to become an administrative judge.

The Turkish government has arrested a total of 2,431 judges and prosecutors and dismissed 4,424 others since a controversial military coup attempt on July 15, 2016, a Constitutional Court general assembly ruling revealed on early August 2017.

A comprehensive report titled “Turkey’s descent into arbitrariness: The end of rule of law” published by SCF in April 2017 provides detailed information on how the rule of law has lost meaning in the Turkish context, confirming the effective collapse of all domestic judicial and administrative remedies available for Turkish citizens who lodge complaints for rights violations.

It lists many recent cases showing the ways in which Turkey’s autocratic President Erdoğan and his associates in the government manipulate the judiciary through loyalists and partisans. An unprecedented intimidation campaign against independent judges and prosecutors including unlawful arrests and arbitrary assets seizures was pursued by political authorities

Turkish President Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) government are heavily criticized for destroying the separation of powers in the country and creating their own judiciary, which acts on orders from Erdoğan.

Meanwhile, possession of the title of professor is no longer a criterion to be appointed as a university rector in Turkey, according to a recent decree issued by the government which has has dismissed more than 7,500 academics so far under the state of emergency.

Government decree No. 703, which was issued by the Turkish government on Monday, has removed the phrase “individuals possessing the academic title of professor” from the relevant law governing the appointment of university rectors.

Currently, university rectors are appointed directly by the president in Turkey.

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) government issued two decrees in October 2016 which among other things canceled the intra-university elections that used to be held to elect university rectors.

According to the former system, universities held elections within their institutions, but the ultimate decision lay with the president. President Erdoğan insisted that the abolition of the election system would be beneficial for the country. The move attracted widespread criticism in that it would eliminate universities’ autonomy. (SCF with turkishminute.com)

The post Anyone with bachelor’s degree can become an administrative judge in Turkey appeared first on Stockholm Center for Freedom.

from Stockholm Center for Freedom https://stockholmcf.org/anyone-with-bachelors-degree-can-become-an-administrative-judge-in-turkey/