The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled that Turkey violated a judge’s right of access to a court by preventing him from challenging a disciplinary warning issued by the country’s judicial council.
In its October 22 judgment the court unanimously found a violation of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which guarantees the right to a fair trial.
The case concerned a disciplinary warning imposed on Judge Ender Köse for allegedly failing to comply with working hours. On June 1, 2022, Turkey’s Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) rejected his objection to the sanction, which he could not challenge in court.
Köse applied to the ECtHR on October 17, 2022, challenging the lack of judicial review of the council’s decision. Under Article 159 of Turkey’s constitution and the law governing the HSK, the council’s decisions are not subject to judicial review except those concerning dismissal from the judiciary.
The ECtHR found that excluding the council’s disciplinary decisions from judicial review served no legitimate aim, particularly given the strong public interest in protecting judicial independence and the rule of law. It concluded that the lack of judicial review impaired the very essence of Köse’s right of access to a court.
Referring to its earlier judgments in Bilgen v. Turkey, Eminağaoğlu v. Turkey and Oktay Alkan v. Türkiye, the court said judges could not be excluded from fair trial protections in matters concerning their employment solely because of their relationship with the state.
The court also declared inadmissible Köse’s separate complaint over the HSK’s refusal to transfer him to another court for family reasons, finding that Turkish law did not guarantee judges the right to be assigned to a location of their choice.
The ECtHR ordered Turkey to pay Köse 2,000 euros in non-pecuniary damages.
The HSK oversees the appointment, promotion, transfer and discipline of judges and prosecutors. Its independence has faced criticism from Turkey’s Judges’ Union, the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission and the European Commission particularly since 2017 constitutional amendments gave the president and parliament control over the selection of most council members.
