Turkey’s Constitutional Court has annulled the provision of a decree preventing civil servants dismissed under emergency decrees in the aftermath of a coup attempt in 2016 who were later reinstated from seeking damages, the TR724 news website reported.
The court ruled that the provision violated Article 40 of the Turkish Constitution, which guarantees access to legal remedies. The judges emphasized that reinstatement implied wrongful dismissal, entitling individuals to seek redress for financial and emotional damage.
Additionally, the ruling stated that emergency laws must be temporary but that the provision imposed a permanent restriction on compensation claims, contradicting constitutional protections. The court also found that the provision shielded the government from accountability for wrongful dismissals.
The court’s ruling was published in the Official Gazette on Monday.
The provision, part of Law No. 7098 enacted on February 13, 2018, was found to be unconstitutional by unanimous decision.
The court referenced a June 30, 2022 decision that struck down a similar clause barring reinstated employees from seeking damages, stating that there was no reason to deviate from the earlier ruling.
Following their reinstatement, the public servants were able to recover their unpaid salaries but were not allowed to seek pecuniary or non-pecuniary damages caused by their unlawful dismissal from public service.
Following the abortive putsch, the Turkish government declared a state of emergency and carried out a massive purge of state institutions under the pretext of an anti-coup fight. Over 130,000 public servants, including 4,156 judges and prosecutors, as well as more than 24,000 members of the armed forces were summarily removed from their jobs for alleged membership in or relationships with “terrorist organizations” by emergency decree-laws subject to neither judicial nor parliamentary scrutiny.
Former public servants were not only fired from their jobs; they were also banned from working again in the public sector and getting a passport. The government also made it difficult for them to work formally in the private sector. Notes were put on the social security database about dismissed public servants to deter potential employers.
