News
International conference "Public Prosecution and Rule of Law in Europe".
The extraordinary situation of violation of the independence of the judiciary in Turkey has induced all four European Associations of Judges to join together in their activities:
• The Association of European Administrative Judges (AEAJ),
• The European Association of Judges (EAJ),
• Judges for Judges and
• “Magistrats Européens pour la Démocratie et les Libertés” (MEDEL)
And form a Platform: Platform for an Independent Judiciary in Turkey.
Since its creation, the Platform has been working together to promote the independence of the Judiciary in Turkey and the right to freedom and a fair trial to all the Judges and Prosecutors detained.
Here we gather the main documents issued by the Platform:
Platform Letter Council Europe - 1-8-2016-4SG1.89 MB
Platform Letter Council Europe - 1-8-2016-4PACE1.9 MB
Situation of Turkish Judiciary - Platform Report417.14 KB
Turkey Platform Conclusions163.96 KB
Statement on the eve of the EU-Turkey leaders’ meeting in Varna114.84 KB
70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its observation in Turkey160.88 KB
Criminal conviction of Mr Murat Arslan117.89 KB
Platform Letter Secretary-General Council Europe - 15-07-2020
Statement of the Platform for in Independent Judiciary in Turkey (31th August 2020) (.pdf)157.11 KB
Links to the other member association webpages of the Platform:
The Association of European Administrative Judges (AEAJ)
The European Association of Judges (EAJ), Regional Group of the International Association of Judges (IAJ)
MEDEL has co-signed a joint statement, published today, on the mass arrest of lawyers in Turkey. You can read it below:
Through the new “alternative bar associations” legislation and President Erdogan’s own words “Those who act as the lawyers of terrorists may not act like terrorists themselves. If they do so, there must be a price to pay”, which he said in the presence of judges and prosecutors in the new judicial year opening ceremony, the Turkish government had already signaled that a new phase in the persecution of lawyers was about to start. Only a few days after President Erdogan’s speech, today (11 September 2020), the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor has ordered the arrest of 48 lawyers, 7 trainee lawyers, 4 purged judges and a law graduate, for being “members of a terrorist organisation”
MEDEL has co-signed a joint statement, published today, on the mass arrest of lawyers in Turkey. You can read it below:
Through the new “alternative bar associations” legislation and President Erdogan’s own words “Those who act as the lawyers of terrorists may not act like terrorists themselves. If they do so, there must be a price to pay”, which he said in the presence of judges and prosecutors in the new judicial year opening ceremony, the Turkish government had already signaled that a new phase in the persecution of lawyers was about to start. Only a few days after President Erdogan’s speech, today (11 September 2020), the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor has ordered the arrest of 48 lawyers, 7 trainee lawyers, 4 purged judges and a law graduate, for being “members of a terrorist organisation”
MEDEL issued a statement on the death of the Turkish Lawyer Ebru Timtik. You can find it below:
The death of Ebru Timtik, after 238 days of hunger strike, adds one more life to the many that have already been quashed since the upheaval of democracy in Turkey, and confirms that all members of the Turkish legal community (judges, lawyers, academics) who keep working to defend the rule of law remain “enemies” to fight without mercy.
Ebru Timtik was sentenced to more than 13 years of prison for alleged membership in a terrorist organization, simply on the basis of her professional activity. She never stopped to fight against this injustice, claiming her right to have a fair trial, a fundamental guarantee that is now denied to Turkish citizens.
MEDEL issued a statement on the death of the Turkish Lawyer Ebru Timtik. You can find it below:
The death of Ebru Timtik, after 238 days of hunger strike, adds one more life to the many that have already been quashed since the upheaval of democracy in Turkey, and confirms that all members of the Turkish legal community (judges, lawyers, academics) who keep working to defend the rule of law remain “enemies” to fight without mercy.
Ebru Timtik was sentenced to more than 13 years of prison for alleged membership in a terrorist organization, simply on the basis of her professional activity. She never stopped to fight against this injustice, claiming her right to have a fair trial, a fundamental guarantee that is now denied to Turkish citizens.
Within the scope of our new project we are publishing interviews with prominent European lawyers, academics and executives of judges’ associations. Our fourth interview is with Filipe Marques who is the president of MEDEL – Magistrats Européens pour la Démocratie et les Libertés.
Q1: Mr. Marques, You are president of MEDEL which is an organization of judges and prosecutors. Could you tell us about MEDEL and its work?
Mr Marques: MEDEL – Magistrats Européens pour la Démocratie et les Libertés, is a European NGO that gathers associations of judges and prosecutors, acting as an “umbrella association”. It was founded in June 1985 in Strasbourg by eight professional organizations (trade unions or associations) of judges and prosecutors from six European countries (France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Germany) that had a progressist view of the judiciary and the role of magistrates in the administration of justice. This was a continuation of several previous meetings between European magistrates committed to defending the independence of the judiciary, the promotion of rule of law and the construction of a European judicial area based on the guarantee of fundamental rights, in political as well as economic and social matters.
Within the scope of our new project we are publishing interviews with prominent European lawyers, academics and executives of judges’ associations. Our fourth interview is with Filipe Marques who is the president of MEDEL – Magistrats Européens pour la Démocratie et les Libertés.
Q1: Mr. Marques, You are president of MEDEL which is an organization of judges and prosecutors. Could you tell us about MEDEL and its work?
Mr Marques: MEDEL – Magistrats Européens pour la Démocratie et les Libertés, is a European NGO that gathers associations of judges and prosecutors, acting as an “umbrella association”. It was founded in June 1985 in Strasbourg by eight professional organizations (trade unions or associations) of judges and prosecutors from six European countries (France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Germany) that had a progressist view of the judiciary and the role of magistrates in the administration of justice. This was a continuation of several previous meetings between European magistrates committed to defending the independence of the judiciary, the promotion of rule of law and the construction of a European judicial area based on the guarantee of fundamental rights, in political as well as economic and social matters.
News