Executive summary

This report by the Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project (TLSP) sets out
the systematic capture of Türkiye’s judiciary by President Erdoğan and allied power
networks. It is part of a planned series documenting and analysing the erosion of
human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Türkiye during President Erdoğan's
time in power.
Under international and regional human rights law, Türkiye has an obligation to
respect and ensure judicial independence, which is an indispensable precondition for
the protection of fundamental rights, the separation of powers, and the accountability
of those exercising public authority. Key aspects of judicial independence include
standards on judicial councils, judicial administration, guarantees against outside
pressure, the appearance of independence of the judiciary, and prosecutorial
independence. Each of these has been strategically circumvented, in law and in
practice, to allow the AKP and its allies to gain access to the power both to
administer the courts and to administer justice.
Constitutional and legislative changes have increased executive control over the
body responsible for judicial governance, the Council of Judges and Prosecutors
(CJP), placing appointments, promotions, case assignments, transfers, dismissals
and disciplinary powers effectively in the hands of the executive. Judicial
administration by the CJP has been used to facilitate the placement of loyalist judges
and prosecutors in strategic positions while penalising those who apply the law
impartially, creating a climate of fear and submission.
Safeguards against outside pressure have been systematically defied or
circumvented. Following the 2016 coup attempt, over 4,000 judges and prosecutors
were dismissed without individual reasoning, adequate due process, or effective
judicial review — in clear breach of the guarantees of security of tenure and the right
to a fair trial. Exceptions to procedural immunities protecting members of the
judiciary from arbitrary investigation and arrest were reinterpreted in manifestly
unreasonable terms, enabling widespread arrests and detention. The rights to
freedom of expression and association within the judiciary have been suppressed
through misuse of criminal law, judicial administration measures, and emergency
decree powers.

During Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s presidency, Türkiye’s judiciary has appeared
increasingly partial, damaging the confidence that courts in a democratic society
must inspire in the public. Proceedings against individuals perceived as threats to
the interests of President Erdoğan and his allies have included indictments and
judgments echoing presidential rhetoric and retroactive criminalisation of lawful
conduct, reliance on anonymous testimony instead of concrete evidence, and
politically motivated detention. Finally, the independence and effectiveness of the
Constitutional Court, the supreme domestic avenue for redress for human rights
violations, has been undermined through politicised appointments, a selective
approach to cases favouring the interests of President Erdoğan and his allies over
human rights protection, and repeated non-implementation of rights-compliant
judgments.
The dismantling of judicial independence, and therefore the separation of powers,
has been central to widespread violations of human rights in Türkiye. Achieving
judicial independence, and ending long-standing impunity for those in power,
requires profound reform to address the structural conditions this report documents.