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Executive Decree Authority in Turkey Before the Constitutional Amendments of 2017: In Light of the Turkish Constitutional Court’s Retreat

Year 2018, Issue: 67, 17 - 30, 26.11.2019
https://doi.org/10.26650/annales.2018.67.0002

Abstract

Since the incorporation of decree powers into the Turkish constitutional system in 1971, the Constitutional Court (the Court) had adopted a disposition which has tended to construe decree powers in a narrow margin. In this context, the Court looked for additional conditions besides the conditions set in the constitution for the empowerment of executive with decree powers: the tripartite test which required that the empowerment should be urgent, necessary and important. The Court acted in a similar way for emergency decrees by examining them - although the supervision of emergency decrees is prohibited in the constitution. Thanks to this attitude, decree powers both in ordinary times and emergencies were restricted and used with aims solely seen necessary to abolish the reasons which caused the usage of decrees. However, the Court changed its case law regarding decree powers and opened the way for the possibility of executive influence on law making. For ordinary decrees, it abandoned the practice of looking for “extra” conditions not present in the constitution’s text in 2011. With its judgment in late 2016, the Court gave up controlling emergency decrees as well. This retreat by the Court has greatly influenced the recent inflation of executive dominance in Turkey.

Supporting Institution

The author received no grant support for this work.

References

  • Books, Articles and Reports Aslan, Volkan: “The Role of Turkish Constitutional Court in the Democratization Process of Turkey: From 2002 to Present”, Constitutionalism in a Plural World, Edited by Catarina Santos Botelho/Luis Heleno Terrinha/Pedro Coutinho, Porto, 2018.
  • Can, Osman/ Şimşek Aktaş, Duygu: “Olağanüstü Hâl Dönemi Kanun Hükmünde Kararnamelerinin Yargısal Denetimi Üzerine”, Marmara Üniversitesi Hukuk Fakültesi Hukuk Araştırmaları Dergisi, Volume: 23, 2017.
  • Eren, Abdurrahman: “Anayasa Hukuku Ders Notları (Genel Esaslar-Türk Anayasa Hukuku)”, İstanbul, 2018.
  • European Commission for Democracy Through Law (Venice Commission), Emergency Powers, Strasbourg, 1995.
  • European Commission for Democracy Through Law (Venice Commission), Turkey Opinion on Emergency Decree Laws Nos. 667-676 adopted Following the Failed Coup of 15 July 2016, adopted by the Commission at its 109th Plenary Session (Venice, 9-10 December 2016), Opinion No. 865 / 2016, Strasbourg 12 December 2016.
  • European Commission for Democracy Through Law (Venice Commission), Turkey Opinion on the Measures Provided in the Recent Emergency Decree Laws with Respect to Freedom of the Media, adopted by the Commission at its 110th Plenary Session (Venice, 10-11 March 2017), Opinion No. 872 / 2016, Strasbourg 13 March 2017.
  • Gönenç, Levent: “The 2001 Amendments to the 1982 Constitution of Turkey”, Ankara Law Review, Volume: 1, 2004.
  • Gözler, Kemal: “Kanun Hükmünde Kararnamelerin Hukuki Rejimi”, Bursa, 2000. Göztepe, Ece: “Ein Paradigmenwechsel für den Sicherheitsstaat: Die Praxis des Ausnahmezustandes im Südosten der Türkei”, Ausnahmezustand: Theoriegeschichte - Anwendungen - Perspektiven, Edited by Matthias Lemke, Wiesbaden 2017.
  • İnceoğlu, Sibel: “Constitutional Conflict and the Idea of New Constitution in Turkey”, Norms, Interest, and Values, Edited by Henning Glaser, Baden-Baden, 2015.
  • Öden, Merih/Esen, Selin: “Fundamental Rights and Freedoms in Turkey and the Turkish Constitutional Court”, The Convergence of the Fundamental Rights Protection in Europe, Edited by Rainer Arnold, Dordrecht, 2016.
  • Özbudun, Ergun: “Political Origins of the Turkish Constitutional Court and the Problem of Democratic Legitimacy”, European Public Law, Volume: 12, 2006.
  • Özbudun, Ergun: “The Constitutional System of Turkey: 1876 to the Present”, United States, 2011.
  • Özbudun, Ergun / Gençkaya, Ömer, F.: “Democratization and the Politics of ConstitutionMaking in Turkey”, Budapest, 2009.
  • Örücü, Esin: “The Constitutional Court of Turkey: The Anayasa Mahkemesi as the Protector of the System”, Journal of Comparative Law, Volume: 3, 2008.
  • Rumpf, Christian: “Das türkische Verfassungssystem: Einführung mit vollständigem Verfassungstext”, Wiesbaden, 1996.
  • Rumpf, Christian: “Der Not- und Ausnahmezustand im türkischen Verfassungsrecht”, Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht, Volume: 48, 1988.
  • Remington, Thomas F.: “Presidential Decrees in Russia: A Comparative Perspective”, United States, 2014.
  • Türk, Ender: “1982 Anayasası’na Göre Kanun Hükmünde Kararnameler ve Yargısal Denetimi“, Ankara, 2013.
  • Yüksel, Saadet: “A Comparative Approach on New Turkish Constitutionalism”, Annales de la Faculte de Droit d’Istanbul, Volume: 44, 2012.
  • Yüksel, Saadet: “Constitutional Changes of Turkey in 2001 under the Framework of the EU Adaptation Process”, Annales de la Faculte de Droit d’Istanbul, Volume: 39, 2007.
  • Yüksel, Saadet: “Turkey’s Procedural Challenges to Making a New Constitution”, Annales de la Faculte de Droit d’Istanbul, Volume: 41, 2009.
  • Yüzbaşıoğlu, Necmi: “1982 Anayasası ve Anayasa Mahkemesi Kararlarına Göre Türkiye’de Kanun Hükmünde Kararnameler Rejimi”, İstanbul, 1996.
  • Electronic Sources
  • Esen, Selin: “Judicial Control of Decree-Laws in Emergency Regimes - A Self-Destruction Attempt by the Turkish Constitutional Court?”, December 19, 2016, Blog of the IACL, AIDC available at https://iacl-aidc-blog.org/2016/12/19/judicial-control-of-the-decree-laws-in-emerg ency-regimes-a-self-destruction-attempt-bythe-turkish-constitutional-court/ (last accessed on 11 January 2018).
  • Gözler, Kemal: “15 Temmuz Kararnameleri: Olağanüstü Hâl Kanun Hükmünde Kararnamelerinin Hukukî Rejiminin İfsadı Hakkında Bir İnceleme”, February 17 2017, available at http://www. anayasa.gen.tr/15-temmuzkararnameleri.pdf, pp. 18-20 (last accessed on January 10 2018).
  • Köybaşı, Serkan: “Developments in Turkish Constitutional Law”, 2016 Global Review of Constitutional Law, Edited by Richard Albert, David Landau, Pietro Faraguna and Simon Drugda, Electronically published by I-CONnect and the Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy at Boston College, available at http://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/centers/clough/ constitutional-law/ReviewofConLaw-fina l.pdf, (last accessed on January 10 2018).
  • Oder, Bertil Emrah: “Populism and the Turkish Constitutional Court: the Game Broker, the Populist and the Popular”, Int’l J. Const. L. Blog, May 2 2017, available at: http://www. iconnectblog.com/2017/04/populism-and-the-turkish-constitutional-court-the-gam e-brokerthe-populist-and-the-popular/ (last accessed on January 11 2018).
  • http://www.constitution.ru/en/10003000-01.htm (last accessed on January 12 2018).
  • https://global.tbmm.gov.tr/docs/constitution_en.pdf (last accessed on January 12 2019).
  • The 1961 Turkish Constitution as Amended, Office of the Prime Minister, Directorate General of Press and Information, Ankara 1978, available at http://www.anayasa.gen.tr/1961constitutionamended.pdf, (last accessed on January 12 2018).
  • Judgments
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 16/05/1989, E: 1989/4, K: 1989/23.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 01/02/1990, E: 1988/64, K: 1990/2.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 10/01/1991, E: 1990/25, K: 1991/1.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 04/04/1991, E: 1990/12, K: 1991/7.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 03/07/1991, E: 1991/6, K: 1991/20.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 16/09/1993, E: 1993/26, K: 1993/28.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 06/09/1995, E: 1995/47, K: 1995/40.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 19/09/2000, E: 2000/27, K: 2000/24.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 05/10/2000, E: 2000/45, K: 2000/27.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 20/03/2001, E: 2001/9, K: 2001/56.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 22/05/2003, E: 2003/28, K: 2003/42.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 27/01/2004, E: 2004/6, K: 2004/5.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 27/06/2006, E: 2006/97, K: 2006/74.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 20/10/2006, E: 2006/138, K: 2006/100.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 17/05/2007, E: 2004/46, K: 2007/60.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 27/10/2011, E: 2011/60, K: 2011/147.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 12/10/2016, E: 2016/166, K: 2016/159.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 12/10/2016, E: 2016/167, K: 2016/160.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 02/11/2016, E: 2016/171, K: 2016/164.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 02/11/2016, E: 2016/172, K: 2016/165.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 14/12/2016, E: 2016/148, K: 2016/189.

2017 Anayasa Değişiklikleri Öncesinde Türkiye’de Yürütmenin Kararname Yetkisi: Anayasa Mahkemesi Kararları Işığında

Year 2018, Issue: 67, 17 - 30, 26.11.2019
https://doi.org/10.26650/annales.2018.67.0002

Abstract

Kanun hükmünde kararname çıkarma yetkisinin 1971 yılında anayasal dayanağa kavuşmasından bu yana Anayasa Mahkemesi (Mahkeme) kararname yetkisini oldukça dar yorumlama eğilimine sahip olmuştur. Bu çerçevede Mahkeme, kararname çıkarılması amacıyla yetki yasası çıkarılabilmesi için anayasada öngörülmeyen şartların varlığını aramış ve yetkilendirmenin acil, gerekli ve önemli olması gerektiğine hükmetmiştir. Mahkeme olağanüstü hâl kararnameleri ile ilgili olarak da benzer bir tutum takınmış; anayasada yasak olmasına rağmen bu kararnamelerin denetimini gerçekleştirmiştir. Böylelikle hem olağan hem de olağanüstü dönemlerde kararname yetkisinin bu yetkinin kullanılmasına neden olan sebeplerle ilgili olarak kullanılması sağlanmaya çalışılmıştır. Ancak Mahkeme 2011 ve 2016 yıllarında verdiği kararlarla söz konusu içtihatlarından dönmüştür. 2011 yılında verilen kararla, yetkilendirme için olması gerektiği varsayılan acillik, gereklilik ve önemli olma gibi koşulların artık aranmayacağına hükmedilmiş; 2016 yılında verilen kararla da olağanüstü hâl kararnamelerinin denetiminin yapılamayacağı kararlaştırılmıştır. Mahkeme’nin söz konusu içtihat değişikliklerinin son zamanlarda görülen, yönetimde yürütme organının ön plana çıkması olgusunun temel sebeplerinden birisi olduğu düşünülmektedir.

References

  • Books, Articles and Reports Aslan, Volkan: “The Role of Turkish Constitutional Court in the Democratization Process of Turkey: From 2002 to Present”, Constitutionalism in a Plural World, Edited by Catarina Santos Botelho/Luis Heleno Terrinha/Pedro Coutinho, Porto, 2018.
  • Can, Osman/ Şimşek Aktaş, Duygu: “Olağanüstü Hâl Dönemi Kanun Hükmünde Kararnamelerinin Yargısal Denetimi Üzerine”, Marmara Üniversitesi Hukuk Fakültesi Hukuk Araştırmaları Dergisi, Volume: 23, 2017.
  • Eren, Abdurrahman: “Anayasa Hukuku Ders Notları (Genel Esaslar-Türk Anayasa Hukuku)”, İstanbul, 2018.
  • European Commission for Democracy Through Law (Venice Commission), Emergency Powers, Strasbourg, 1995.
  • European Commission for Democracy Through Law (Venice Commission), Turkey Opinion on Emergency Decree Laws Nos. 667-676 adopted Following the Failed Coup of 15 July 2016, adopted by the Commission at its 109th Plenary Session (Venice, 9-10 December 2016), Opinion No. 865 / 2016, Strasbourg 12 December 2016.
  • European Commission for Democracy Through Law (Venice Commission), Turkey Opinion on the Measures Provided in the Recent Emergency Decree Laws with Respect to Freedom of the Media, adopted by the Commission at its 110th Plenary Session (Venice, 10-11 March 2017), Opinion No. 872 / 2016, Strasbourg 13 March 2017.
  • Gönenç, Levent: “The 2001 Amendments to the 1982 Constitution of Turkey”, Ankara Law Review, Volume: 1, 2004.
  • Gözler, Kemal: “Kanun Hükmünde Kararnamelerin Hukuki Rejimi”, Bursa, 2000. Göztepe, Ece: “Ein Paradigmenwechsel für den Sicherheitsstaat: Die Praxis des Ausnahmezustandes im Südosten der Türkei”, Ausnahmezustand: Theoriegeschichte - Anwendungen - Perspektiven, Edited by Matthias Lemke, Wiesbaden 2017.
  • İnceoğlu, Sibel: “Constitutional Conflict and the Idea of New Constitution in Turkey”, Norms, Interest, and Values, Edited by Henning Glaser, Baden-Baden, 2015.
  • Öden, Merih/Esen, Selin: “Fundamental Rights and Freedoms in Turkey and the Turkish Constitutional Court”, The Convergence of the Fundamental Rights Protection in Europe, Edited by Rainer Arnold, Dordrecht, 2016.
  • Özbudun, Ergun: “Political Origins of the Turkish Constitutional Court and the Problem of Democratic Legitimacy”, European Public Law, Volume: 12, 2006.
  • Özbudun, Ergun: “The Constitutional System of Turkey: 1876 to the Present”, United States, 2011.
  • Özbudun, Ergun / Gençkaya, Ömer, F.: “Democratization and the Politics of ConstitutionMaking in Turkey”, Budapest, 2009.
  • Örücü, Esin: “The Constitutional Court of Turkey: The Anayasa Mahkemesi as the Protector of the System”, Journal of Comparative Law, Volume: 3, 2008.
  • Rumpf, Christian: “Das türkische Verfassungssystem: Einführung mit vollständigem Verfassungstext”, Wiesbaden, 1996.
  • Rumpf, Christian: “Der Not- und Ausnahmezustand im türkischen Verfassungsrecht”, Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht, Volume: 48, 1988.
  • Remington, Thomas F.: “Presidential Decrees in Russia: A Comparative Perspective”, United States, 2014.
  • Türk, Ender: “1982 Anayasası’na Göre Kanun Hükmünde Kararnameler ve Yargısal Denetimi“, Ankara, 2013.
  • Yüksel, Saadet: “A Comparative Approach on New Turkish Constitutionalism”, Annales de la Faculte de Droit d’Istanbul, Volume: 44, 2012.
  • Yüksel, Saadet: “Constitutional Changes of Turkey in 2001 under the Framework of the EU Adaptation Process”, Annales de la Faculte de Droit d’Istanbul, Volume: 39, 2007.
  • Yüksel, Saadet: “Turkey’s Procedural Challenges to Making a New Constitution”, Annales de la Faculte de Droit d’Istanbul, Volume: 41, 2009.
  • Yüzbaşıoğlu, Necmi: “1982 Anayasası ve Anayasa Mahkemesi Kararlarına Göre Türkiye’de Kanun Hükmünde Kararnameler Rejimi”, İstanbul, 1996.
  • Electronic Sources
  • Esen, Selin: “Judicial Control of Decree-Laws in Emergency Regimes - A Self-Destruction Attempt by the Turkish Constitutional Court?”, December 19, 2016, Blog of the IACL, AIDC available at https://iacl-aidc-blog.org/2016/12/19/judicial-control-of-the-decree-laws-in-emerg ency-regimes-a-self-destruction-attempt-bythe-turkish-constitutional-court/ (last accessed on 11 January 2018).
  • Gözler, Kemal: “15 Temmuz Kararnameleri: Olağanüstü Hâl Kanun Hükmünde Kararnamelerinin Hukukî Rejiminin İfsadı Hakkında Bir İnceleme”, February 17 2017, available at http://www. anayasa.gen.tr/15-temmuzkararnameleri.pdf, pp. 18-20 (last accessed on January 10 2018).
  • Köybaşı, Serkan: “Developments in Turkish Constitutional Law”, 2016 Global Review of Constitutional Law, Edited by Richard Albert, David Landau, Pietro Faraguna and Simon Drugda, Electronically published by I-CONnect and the Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy at Boston College, available at http://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/centers/clough/ constitutional-law/ReviewofConLaw-fina l.pdf, (last accessed on January 10 2018).
  • Oder, Bertil Emrah: “Populism and the Turkish Constitutional Court: the Game Broker, the Populist and the Popular”, Int’l J. Const. L. Blog, May 2 2017, available at: http://www. iconnectblog.com/2017/04/populism-and-the-turkish-constitutional-court-the-gam e-brokerthe-populist-and-the-popular/ (last accessed on January 11 2018).
  • http://www.constitution.ru/en/10003000-01.htm (last accessed on January 12 2018).
  • https://global.tbmm.gov.tr/docs/constitution_en.pdf (last accessed on January 12 2019).
  • The 1961 Turkish Constitution as Amended, Office of the Prime Minister, Directorate General of Press and Information, Ankara 1978, available at http://www.anayasa.gen.tr/1961constitutionamended.pdf, (last accessed on January 12 2018).
  • Judgments
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 16/05/1989, E: 1989/4, K: 1989/23.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 01/02/1990, E: 1988/64, K: 1990/2.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 10/01/1991, E: 1990/25, K: 1991/1.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 04/04/1991, E: 1990/12, K: 1991/7.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 03/07/1991, E: 1991/6, K: 1991/20.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 16/09/1993, E: 1993/26, K: 1993/28.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 06/09/1995, E: 1995/47, K: 1995/40.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 19/09/2000, E: 2000/27, K: 2000/24.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 05/10/2000, E: 2000/45, K: 2000/27.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 20/03/2001, E: 2001/9, K: 2001/56.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 22/05/2003, E: 2003/28, K: 2003/42.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 27/01/2004, E: 2004/6, K: 2004/5.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 27/06/2006, E: 2006/97, K: 2006/74.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 20/10/2006, E: 2006/138, K: 2006/100.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 17/05/2007, E: 2004/46, K: 2007/60.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 27/10/2011, E: 2011/60, K: 2011/147.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 12/10/2016, E: 2016/166, K: 2016/159.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 12/10/2016, E: 2016/167, K: 2016/160.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 02/11/2016, E: 2016/171, K: 2016/164.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 02/11/2016, E: 2016/172, K: 2016/165.
  • Turkish Constitutional Court, Date: 14/12/2016, E: 2016/148, K: 2016/189.
There are 52 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Law in Context
Journal Section Makaleler
Authors

Volkan Aslan 0000-0003-1136-7556

Publication Date November 26, 2019
Submission Date May 9, 2019
Published in Issue Year 2018 Issue: 67

Cite

APA Aslan, V. (2019). Executive Decree Authority in Turkey Before the Constitutional Amendments of 2017: In Light of the Turkish Constitutional Court’s Retreat. Annales De La Faculté De Droit d’Istanbul(67), 17-30. https://doi.org/10.26650/annales.2018.67.0002
AMA Aslan V. Executive Decree Authority in Turkey Before the Constitutional Amendments of 2017: In Light of the Turkish Constitutional Court’s Retreat. Annales de la Faculté de Droit d’Istanbul. November 2019;(67):17-30. doi:10.26650/annales.2018.67.0002
Chicago Aslan, Volkan. “Executive Decree Authority in Turkey Before the Constitutional Amendments of 2017: In Light of the Turkish Constitutional Court’s Retreat”. Annales De La Faculté De Droit d’Istanbul, no. 67 (November 2019): 17-30. https://doi.org/10.26650/annales.2018.67.0002.
EndNote Aslan V (November 1, 2019) Executive Decree Authority in Turkey Before the Constitutional Amendments of 2017: In Light of the Turkish Constitutional Court’s Retreat. Annales de la Faculté de Droit d’Istanbul 67 17–30.
IEEE V. Aslan, “Executive Decree Authority in Turkey Before the Constitutional Amendments of 2017: In Light of the Turkish Constitutional Court’s Retreat”, Annales de la Faculté de Droit d’Istanbul, no. 67, pp. 17–30, November 2019, doi: 10.26650/annales.2018.67.0002.
ISNAD Aslan, Volkan. “Executive Decree Authority in Turkey Before the Constitutional Amendments of 2017: In Light of the Turkish Constitutional Court’s Retreat”. Annales de la Faculté de Droit d’Istanbul 67 (November 2019), 17-30. https://doi.org/10.26650/annales.2018.67.0002.
JAMA Aslan V. Executive Decree Authority in Turkey Before the Constitutional Amendments of 2017: In Light of the Turkish Constitutional Court’s Retreat. Annales de la Faculté de Droit d’Istanbul. 2019;:17–30.
MLA Aslan, Volkan. “Executive Decree Authority in Turkey Before the Constitutional Amendments of 2017: In Light of the Turkish Constitutional Court’s Retreat”. Annales De La Faculté De Droit d’Istanbul, no. 67, 2019, pp. 17-30, doi:10.26650/annales.2018.67.0002.
Vancouver Aslan V. Executive Decree Authority in Turkey Before the Constitutional Amendments of 2017: In Light of the Turkish Constitutional Court’s Retreat. Annales de la Faculté de Droit d’Istanbul. 2019(67):17-30.