EU welcomes Turkey's new Judicial reform package

The European Union has hailed a judicial reform package recently introduced by the Turkish government to address long-standing shortcomings in the Turkish judiciary. Peter Stano, spokesperson for EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule, told Today's Zaman on Wednesday that the European Commission welcomes the intentions of the government to address a number of important obstacles to the enhancement of democratic standards. "The proposed package is a first and appreciated step in the right direction," he said. Noting that the commission notably welcomes the proposal to abolish the possibility to preventively suspend publications pending investigations, and the obligation for judges to more clearly justify the decision to detain suspects on remand, he said however, more is needed. "The Commission calls on all stakeholders to seize the occasion of this reform package to address the root problems which undermine freedom of expression, the right to liberty and security and the right to a fair trial. Most importantly, there needs to be a change in the definition in the Turkish Penal Code [TCK], the Counterterrorism Law [TMK] and the Code of Criminal Procedure [CMK] of some offences concerning terrorism and membership of a criminal organization, in order to make a clear distinction between the freedom to express opinions and the incitement to violence," he said. "Only a comprehensive reform will permit adequately executing judgments of the European Court of Human Rights [ECtHR] regarding freedom of expression, the right to liberty and security and the right to a fair trial, and avoid further condemnations by this court," he added. Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin last month announced a new judicial reform package that, among other things, aims to make it difficult for courts to issue detention orders for suspects before trial. The package, which introduces nearly 100 amendments to the TCK, the CMK, the TMK and the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law, was designed to increase democratization in line with the standards of the ECtHR and ease the judiciary's burden by accelerating trials.