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Last months and weeks turned upside down the world as we know it. Thousands of people already lost their lives as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many more are struggling with the disease, we all live in fear for health – our relatives’ and ours. Inevitable economic crisis will strike everyone, we will face multitudes of unemployed, many will fall into extreme poverty. We enter this new reality with fear, remembering the not so distant history, especially of the economic crisis in the 30’s decade of last century, which became the breeding ground for populism and nationalism resulting in the great tragedy of World War II.
These experiences gave us a lesson of the need for international collaboration and solidarity and of the key role of democracy, separation of powers and human rights.
MEDEL is present from 24 to 27 February 2020 at the Second High-Level Meeting of the Global Judiciary Integrity Network, held in Doha, Qatar, organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
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
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)
You can find here the english translation of an article about the verdict against Murat Arslan, written by Ingrid Heilein, the German colleague who has been observing as MEDEL representative the trial of Murat Arslan.
The article was originally published in December 2019 in the German magazine "Betrifft Justiz". Read it below.
You can find here the english translation of an article about the verdict against Murat Arslan, written by Ingrid Heilein, the German colleague who has been observing as MEDEL representative the trial of Murat Arslan.
The article was originally published in December 2019 in the German magazine "Betrifft Justiz". Read it below.
The next MEDEL meeting will take place in Florence, Italy, on the 28th and 29th of February 2020.
On Friday, 28th of February 2020, in a co-organization with the Dipartamento Scienze Giuridiche of the Università di Firenze, a conference on the topic of ”Public Prosecution and Rule of Law in Europe” will take place at Universita di Firenze – SAGAS, Pallazzo Fenzi, Aula Magna, Via San Gallo 10.
The MEDEL CA meeting will take place on Saturday, February 29th, 2020, at the Centro studi per la storia del pensiero giuridico moderno, Piazza Indipendenza 9.
MEDEL welcomes the decision of the European Commission announced on January 14th, 2020, requesting the European Court of Justice to apply Interim Measures in the infringement procedure regarding the disciplinary regime for Polish judges.
The situation in Poland significantly deteriorated over the last months, with new laws intended to further weaken judicial independence and to effectively forbid the implementation of ECJ rulings in Poland.
MEDEL welcomes the decision of the European Commission announced on January 14th, 2020, requesting the European Court of Justice to apply Interim Measures in the infringement procedure regarding the disciplinary regime for Polish judges.
The situation in Poland significantly deteriorated over the last months, with new laws intended to further weaken judicial independence and to effectively forbid the implementation of ECJ rulings in Poland.
MEDEL was present in Warsaw on January 11th, 2020, in the march for the independence of the Judiciary, that gathered more than 25000 people and stretched for 4km.
MEDEL actively participated and had intervention in the press conference before the march.
It was an impressive demonstration of belief in the fundamental values of the Rule of Law and a clear sign to all national and European authorities that those values are at the heart of the European Union and that citizens will never cease fighting for their protection.
A delegation of MEDEL composed by Filipe Marques, Mariarosaria Guglielmi and Monika Frackowiak was received on January 6th by the new EU Commissioner of Justice, Didier Reynders, in Brussels.
In the meeting, we had the opportunity to transmit to Commissioner Reynders our deep concern about the breaches of the fundamental principles of the Rule of Law in several Member States, focusing mainly in the situation in Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, and appealed for a strong and determined reaction by the Commission, as guardian of the treaties.
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