First Paragraph
On the 17th of March 2008, the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office (Yargitay Cumhuriyet Bassavczgi) filed an indictment to the Turkish Constitutional Court (Court) against the governing "Justice and Development Party" (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi). The main allegation concerned acts which were deemed to be in violation of the principle of laicism, protected by the Turkish Constitution. The Chief Prosecutor's Office demanded that, in light of the evidence provided, the dissolution of the Justice and Development Party by the Court under Article 101 of Law No. 2820 on Political Parties; which above all stipulates that the Court has competence to dissolve a political party in case "a political party's regulatory statute or program is contrary to the independence of the state, its indivisible integrity with its territory and nation, human rights, the principles of equality and rule of law, sovereignty of the nation, the principles of the democratic and [laic]2 republic, they shall not aim to [support] or establish [a social] class or group dictatorship or dictatorship of any kind, nor shall they [promote the commission of crime] or in cases the 'Court determines that the [political] party... has become a centerfor. . .such act[s.]
Recommended Citation
Mehmet C. Uzun, The Protection of Laicism in Turkey and the Turkish Constitutional Court: The Example of the Prohibition on the Use of the Islamic Veil in Higher Education, 28 Penn St. Int'l L. Rev. 383 (2010).
Included in
Comparative and Foreign Law Commons, Constitutional Law Commons, International Law Commons