Background

After establishing the Turkish Republic by the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, first radical changes were implemented on the legal system. All the religious courts were closed down and the Continental System was adopted in 1926.

Turkish civil law system has been modified by incorporating elements mainly of the Swiss Civil Code, the Code of Obligations and the German Commercial Code. The administrative law bears similarities with the French Counterpart and the penal code with the Italian Counterpart. In this respect, it can be considered that Turkey’s law system has been wholly integrated with the continental European system. However another revision and modernization of some of the laws is expected to be made soon.

The court system in Turkey is grouped into three categories as civil, penal and administrative and they are further subdivided according to the subject of the conflict. The highest courts are the Court of Appeal (for civil and penal cases) and the Council of State (for tax and adminis-trative cases).

Constitution

The first constitution of Grand National Assembly of Turkey was the constitution of 1921. This constitution remained in force for 3 years and after foundation of the new republic of Turkey 1924 constitution came into force. The first constitution of the Turkish Republic, 1924 constitution played a key part in progress of the politic and remained in force for 36 years. In line with the concept of nationalism outlined and the reforms and principles introduced by the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Atatürk, this Constitution affirmed the eternal existence of the Turkish nation and motherland and the indivisible unity of the Turkish State.

After the introduction of a multi-party system in 1945 and the opposition party came to power in 1950, it became clear that the intractable problems of Turkey could not be solved within a short period. Therefore, it was required to control the legislative organs legally. For that reason, it was considered that judicial review would be the most effective guarantor of fundamental rights written down in the Constitution. Following the post-World War II constitutions (notably the German and Italian), a Constitutional Court was established by the Constitution of 1961 for the first time in our political history. Subsequent to the Turkish armed forces overthrew the Menderes Government on May 27, 1960, the framers of the 1961 Constitution decided that such a constitutional system would be beneficial for Turkey. The type of court, its organization and composition, the method of selecting the judges and access to the court were debated in the first instance, however, but there was virtual unanimity on the need for judicial review.
New concept of sovereignty brought by the 1961 Constitution was also adopted by the 1982 Constitution. According to the new concept sovereignty is vested in the nation without reservation or condition on the basis that the Turkish nation shall exercise its sovereignty through the authorized organs according to the principles laid down in the Constitution. In the context of Turkish constitutional history, the clear intention of this provision could be interpreted as aiming at putting an end to the principle of the supremacy of Parliament. With the adoption of this new principle the Turkish Grand National Assembly ceased to be the sole organ empowered to exercise sovereignty on behalf of the nation. The Constitutional Court in particular is competent to control the constitutional validity of statutes passed by Parliament.
In addition to the sovereignty, unchangeable basic provisions, which are the first 3 article, the duties of the State and equality before the Law are definitely guaranteed in the Constitution.

The Turkish Parliament

According to the 7th Article of the Constitution, legislative power belongs to the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) on behalf of the Turkish Nation. The TGNA is formed with 550 members of parliament who are elected with the general vote of the people. Parliamentary elections are held once every five years, are free, equal, single step, in accordance with the fundamentals of the general vote and are held under the general management and control of the judicial organs.
Every Turkish citizen who has entered 18 years of age has the right to vote and participate in a referendum. Every Turkish citizen who has completed 30 years of age can be elected as a member of parliament.
It is necessary to be a graduate of primary school at the minimum in order to be able to be elected as a member of parliament and in addition, it is necessary to have the other election qualifications written in the Constitution. The Assembly can make a decision to renew elections before the five-year period is filled. A new election can be held according to the decision of the President under the conditions stated in the Constitution.

Constitutional Law

A constitution is a system, often codified in a written document, which establishes the rules and principles by which an organization is governed. Constitutional law is the study of foundational laws that govern the scope of powers and authority of various bodies in relation to the creation and execution of other laws by a government. A constitution binds a government or governments, limiting the contexts in which rules may be created, interpreted and force may be applied. Constitutions may reference various bodies, including organizations, associations, stateless peoples and nation-states. The 1982 Constitution numbered 2709 and dated 7 November 1982 forms the basis of the Turkish Constitutional Law.
For the first time in Turkish history, the establishment of a Constitutional Court was foreseen in the Constitution of 1961. Relating to the Turkish system of government, the introduction of a legislative review controlling legislative acts and setting up a special court to perform this review was the most radical feature of the 1961 Constitution. This system was maintained with certain modifications by the 1982 Constitution.
According to the regulations laid down in the 1982 Constitution, the Constitutional Court is composed of eleven regular and four substitute members. The President of the Republic appoints two regular and two substitute members from the Court of Cassation, two regular members and one substitute from the Council of State, and one member each from the Military Court of Cassation, the High Military Administrative Court and the Court of Accounts.
The Legal Professions & Their Regulation
Law education is four years and provided by Law Faculties in Turkey. Courses regarding the professions for specialisation are not covered within the education period. In other words, the education in the Law Faculties does not include the job training for attorneyship, judgeship or notaryship.
Job training is provided by law society applied to law Faculty graduates with the relevant legal practice. The competent authority is Bar for the one year trainee of the attorneys; and Ministry of Justice is for the judges and public prosecutors.
The conditions required to be a lawyer are set out below:

To be a Turkish citizen,
To graduate from a Law Faculty in Turkey or to pass the related exams required by the Turkish Law Faculties in the event of the graduation from a foreign Law Faculty,
To obtain a certificate following the completion of the legal practice,
To pass the Law-Society Examination.