Turkey’s Constitutional Court has rejected an opposition challenge to a parliamentary vote that elected five members of the country’s top judicial administrative body, drawing strong criticism from legal experts and opposition figures who warn that the ruling could further erode judicial independence and constitutional oversight.
In its reasoned opinion published on Monday, the Constitutional Court said the parliament’s May 20 vote on members of the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) did not concern the “rules and procedures of parliamentary work” and therefore fell outside its jurisdiction. The opinion came after the court on July 22 dismissed an application by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) seeking to annul the parliamentary vote that elected five HSK members.
Constitutional court judge Kenan Yaşar dissented from the majority, arguing that the ruling disregarded established precedent, granted parliament almost unchecked power and undermined the constitutional government.
Constitutional law professor Tolga Şirin described the ruling as a “critical turning point in the constitutional order” that opens the way to “an unprecedented sphere of unaccountability.”
“From now on the parliamentary majority can do almost anything without judicial review,” he said, adding that government decrees issued under a state of emergency could now effectively carry constitutional force and be adopted even in ordinary times.
“Farewell, Constitution,” legal scholar Adem Sözüer wrote in an X post, warning that the court’s decision further erodes constitutional oversight at a time when lower courts continue to defy the Constitutional Court.
CHP deputy group chair Murat Emir said the ruling enables the government to label critical decisions as “parliamentary acts” to shield them from judicial review. “The arbitrary regime that began when lower courts ignored Constitutional Court decisions is now deepening,” he warned.
The refusal of local courts and the Supreme Court of Appeals to comply with Constitutional Court decisions has sparked widespread criticism of the Turkish judiciary for its perceived lack of independence.
Many observers argue that there is no longer a meaningful separation of powers in Turkey and that members of the judiciary are under government control, unable to make judgments based solely on the law.
Turkey was ranked 118th among 142 countries in the World Justice Project’s 2025 Rule of Law Index.
