In bid to end drawn-out legal appeals, govt plans to open regional appelate courts

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday received Supreme Court of Appeals head Hasan Gerceker to hear the court's opinions about a planned overhaul of Turkey's judicial system, under fire recently due to high-profile protracted trial and appeals. Speaking to reporters afterwards, Gerceker said he presented Erdogan a report prepared by the court's department heads, and was well received. Stating that he's open to any ideas on how to ease court workloads, Gerceker added, "Raising the number of departments in the court to this end might be a valid short-term solution, but then a year later we'll face the same problems. That's why regional appellate courts should be set up as soon as possible." On government plans to have regional appellate courts up and running by late June, Gerceker said, "If those courts can start working by that time, then there's no need to overcomplicate the court by giving it new departments." A new law limiting the time a person can spend in prison during appeals to 10 years resulted in many prisoners, including ones convicted of terrorist offenses, being released early this month, triggering public outrage. Since then, the government stepped up efforts to make the Supreme Court of Appeals function more effectively.