EP's flautre: "Judicial reform should be enacted as soon as possible"

Helene Flautre, co-chair of the European Union-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, strongly advocates judicial reform as a first step in addressing the long-neglected problems of Turkey's judicial system. "We think the judicial reform initiative taken by the government is a right step, and it goes parallel with the reform calls of the European Parliament," she said in an interview. These reforms should be put into effect as soon as possible so as to speed up trials, prevent the imprisonment of people without conviction, and rebuild confidence in the judicial system, she said. Flautre added that the EP sees giving Turkish citizens the right to personally petition the Constitutional Court as a positive step. "Just like the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, we agree that judicial reform will contribute positively to the judicial system of Turkey," she said.