VIOLATION OF THE RIGHT TO A TRIAL WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME IN DECISIONS OF THE TURKISH CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

The right to trial within a reasonable time, which is a part of the right to a fair trial, is one of the fundamental human rights which has been discussed in several national and international regulations, and numerous judicial precedents of European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the Constitutional Court, aiming at finalization of cases in the shortest time possible. Through the constitutional amendment package adopted in 2010, the right to individual application was introduced as a form of effective domestic remedy for those whose rights are infringed. Since it started receiving individual applications, the Constitutional Court has taken plenty of decisions regarding the right to trial within a reasonable time. It is understood that the evaluation of infringement is carried out using the criteria composed of the complexity of the case, attitudes of parties, attitudes of authorities, nature of the interest of the applicant in finalization of the case in a reasonable time, as well as taking into consideration the established case law of European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). As the result of the evaluation of the judicial precedents, the Court decides, if demanded by the applicant, on non-pecuniary damages in accordance with the criteria like the nature of the case, elapsed time, number of parties etc. in the cases where it is resolved that the right to trial within a reasonable time has been infringed. Examination over the decisions of Constitutional Court and the ECHR revealed that it is possible that the state is not deemed accountable in cases where the judgment process exceeds the reasonable time due to faults and negligence of the applicant throughout trials, temporary congestion of judiciary’s workload based on unpredictable crisis, force majeure like earthquakes and floods and behaviors of third parties. As a result of the failed coup attempt at 15th of July, an extraordinary rise in the workload of judiciary and dismissals of some members of judiciary and judicial personnel will increase the duration of proceedings. However, together with the required measures taken by the State, it is deemed that the negative effects of coup attempt on reasonable time will be anticipated by the Constitutional Court’s determinations