CONGRESS DIRECTIVE OF XIII. INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON LAW

ORGANIZED BY ANKARA BAR ASSOCIATION

1. Congress Theme

The Presidency of Ankara Bar Association decides to organize the 13th of the International Congress on Law on “'Judicial Reform Strategy” to be held between 11 and 14 January 2024 in Ankara.

2. Congress Formats

The Congress includes plenary session, open sessions, panels, workshops. The Congress shall be held at TBB Litai Hotel .

3. Congress Committees

Two separate committees, the Organizing Committee and Scientific Committee, shall operate. The Board of Directors of the Ankara Bar Association is the competent body for the establishment of these Committees.

4. Procedures

The Organizing Committee shall act together with the Scientific Committee within the following framework:

1. The Congress shall be announced, in principle, by an open “Call for Abstract” by the Organizing Committee. The Organizing Committee can also invite speakers.
2. Abstracts shall be submitted in Turkish, English or French languages and shall not exceed 500 words. Participants may propose special sessions and Abstracts to be included in these special sessions shall be jointly evaluated by the Scientific Committee.
3. The secretariat, consisting of two persons elected by the organizing Committee, shall submit the abstracts to the Organizing Committee in such a way that the authors' names remain confidential. Members of the secretariat do not participate in the scientific committee.
4. The Organizing Committee shall determine to which member, based on their expertise, of the Scientific Committee the abstracts, whose authors' names remain confidential, will be sent according to the field of expertise, and informs the Secretariat accordingly. The Secretariat will manage all correspondence.
5. The Members of the Scientific Committee shall evaluate Abstracts according to the criteria of scientific methods.

5. Types of Meetings

On the first day of the convention, the meeting will continue as an open session following the opening speeches.

On January 12-13, the second and third days of the Congress, the determined speech topics will be discussed in separate sessions in two separate halls, two sessions in the morning and two sessions in the afternoon.

Workshops can be organized with the active participation of our colleagues on issues to be determined by the Congress Executive Board (CEB) before noon on the fourth day of the Congress.

On the fourth day, after the Open Discussion, the Congress Final Declaration will be presented.

6. Topics and Speakers

The topics of the two days of the convention have been determined, and the topics of the other two days will be determined by the Congress Executive Board (KDK) until 01.12.2023.

Speakers who will make presentations at the panels will make their presentations for 20 minutes. In the remaining time after the presentations, the chairperson will be able to speak to the panel participants in order to answer the questions of the audience in the hall.

Plaques will be presented to the speakers at the end of the meeting.

7. Special Sessions

Special sessions are held related to special themes determined by the Scientific Committee and by speakers who requested special sessions in advance and considered to be appropriate by the Scientific Committee. Special session themes shall be selected primarily from the following topics. Speakers who demand special session in advance can also propose other special session topics under the title of judicial reform apart from the specified themes hereunder.

Speacial Themes:

• One of the fundamental characteristics of the democratic rule of law and a topic which has always been much debated: freedom of expression, limitation of freedom of expression, debates regarding criticism/insult 
• Within the context of the freedom of communication regulated under the same title and in Initial Provisions of Turkish Constitution, the necessity of determining objective and concrete criteria in the implementation of access blocking to Internet sites 
• In order to achieve guarantee of judicial independence and impartiality, changing the structure and rules of functioning of the HSK (Council of Judges and Prosecutors) to the extent to ensure the aforementioned security (For example, separation and independence of the Boards of Judges and Prosecutors; ensuring that their admission to the profession and their appointments are made directly by the Boards composed of Judges; ensuring that supreme magistrates are appointed through elections to be held directly by judges, taking into account their personnel files within the Board; preventing all practices that would create the risk that judges and prosecutors share the same building, the same bench and the same file; and the risk of judges and prosecutors to exchange views on files without the involvement of the lawyer; legal regulations for prosecutors to participate actively in judicial activities, etc.) 
• Recognising that the sine qua non of an ethical professional activity is a good professional education, redefining the education in law faculties; the qualification of academicians; the conditions for admission to the faculty; the internship training of graduates; the admission criteria for lawyers, judges and prosecutors to the profession; closing law faculties that do not comply with the standards; organising the internship training of lawyers, judges and prosecutors at the master's level in partnership with universities and requiring thesis acceptance for the admission of lawyers, judges and prosecutors to the profession, in-professional training and in-professional qualification exams  
• Increasing the number of vocational schools of justice and vocational high schools of justice and ensuring that they provide education within the body of a Faculty of Law, assuring the compulsory (not prioritised) employment of graduates of these schools in all units and judicial places affiliated to the Ministry of Justice, raising the standard of education in all these schools to the extent of required level and protecting this quality  
• The possibility for the injured party to file a lawsuit for compensation directly against judges and prosecutors due to their misconduct that may occur during their professional activities 
• The procedural safeguards that can be provided through SEGBİS (Audio-Visual Information System) by recording and analysing of all hearings, as well as providing the parties with the audio recording upon request 
• Increasing the prestige of the profession of Lawyer (e.g. through strengthening bar associations financially, dues policies of bar associations, revoke of the legal regulation requiring notarial approval of the power of attorney, which consists of a mere contract, etc.) 
• Reasoned writing of administrative actions and decisions, suspensive effect of administrative judgements (stay of execution), administrative mediation 
• Omnibus bills  
• Expert witnesses (in order to achieve what is just and fair, the necessity of a compulsory regulation regarding expert witnesses to make oral statements and be questioned by the attorneys of the parties, and the written report must be prepared after this questioning, etc.) 
• Justification of judicial decisions 
• Strengthening the binding force of the decisions of the Constitutional Court 
• Improving the physical conditions of courthouses (gathering courthouses in one building in provinces with multiple courthouses, developing UYAP system and CELSE applications, systematic abolition of the obligation to obtain additional permission for the attorney/defence counsel to follow the file at the investigation stage, limiting the prosecutor's authority to restrict this right and practice of this authority as an exception only under the conditions stipulated in CMK (Criminal Procedure Code) art. 153/2, etc.) 
• Strengthening alternative dispute resolution methods and to the extent necessary, subjecting them to legal regulations, aiming for achieving fair solutions before prioritizing to speedy processes and solutions, penalising unfair litigation attempts with strong compensation  
• Amnesty, which have become almost a routine practice, and execution practices resulting de facto in amnesty 
• Difficulties faced by disadvantaged groups in accessing justice and proposed solutions 

8. Submission of Papers

The panelists who will participate in the panels will present their papers in Turkish or English languages until 15.10.2023. There is no page limitation in the papers, and the presentation of the paper is limited to 20 minutes.

The presentations to be made in the Open Session, Open Discussion sections and the papers prepared and sent by the panelists will then be published in the Congress Booklet (e-publication or physical) in order of surnames.

9. Congress Language

The language of the congress will be Turkish and English, with simultaneous translation in these languages. The papers, speeches and discussions presented in the congress will be published as a book by adding the Congress Final Declaration.

In the printed documents prepared for the congress, the names will be arranged alphabetically in the order of "surname". The speaking order of the speakers will be determined separately before the session.

10. Programme and Copyright

The Congress Programme shall be prepared by the Organizing Committee. There shall be no royalties for Abstracts / Papers to be included in the books and other types of publications of the Congress.

11. Congress Calendar

The Organizing Committee shall announce, upon the approval of the Scientific Committee, the open “Call for Abstract” on national and international platforms at the latest on 15 August 2023.

Abstracts shall be sent by 15 October 2023; the accepted papers shall be announced on 30 October 2023; and the Programme shall be confirmed on 15 November 2023.

12. Execution and Effective Date

This Directive is adopted at the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Ankara Bar Association held on 08 August 2023 and shall be effective of 09 August 2023.