Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), in collaboration with the Batman Bar Association, organized a workshop titled "Workshop for Lawyers on the European Court of Human Rights." Legal experts Levent Yalçın, Dr. Atilla Nalbant, Associate Professor Ümit Kılınç, and Dr. Rıza Türmen shared their knowledge on the ECHR's rules of procedure, its current practices, and the admissibility of individual applications with participants.
The workshop took place at the Tahir Elçi Conference Hall of the Batman Bar Association on Saturday, Sept. 23, attended by the management of the Batman Bar Association and a significant number of lawyers. Erkan Şenses, President of the Batman Bar Association, emphasized the importance of the workshop for lawyers planning to submit applications to the ECHR, noting the Court's stringent application of Article 47 of its Rules of Procedure in recent years.
Dr. Rıza Türmen, a former judge of the ECHR, delivered the opening speech via video conference. Türmen highlighted the critical role of the ECHR in societies where the rule of law is sidelined, trust in the legal system is diminished, and fundamental rights and freedoms are left unprotected. He pointed out that the state of political, economic, and social issues in Turkey can be observed through the cases brought before the ECHR. Türmen emphasized the importance of lawyers understanding how to file cases correctly for the legal system to function properly, making the seminar extremely significant.
Veysel Ok, co-director of MLSA, mentioned the importance of continuous legal education for lawyers, especially given the ongoing changes to the ECHR's Rules of Procedure, which often lead to mistakes in applications. The decision to hold the workshop in Batman was motivated by the city's high incidence of human rights violations.
Levent Yalçın from the ECHR's Registry presented during the first session of the workshop, discussing how to make a valid application in accordance with Article 47 of the ECHR's Rules of Procedure. Yalçın noted that while the Court is often perceived as rigid and formalistic in its decisions to dismiss applications, it does adjust its application requirements based on the country's conditions. He shared that in 2023, the ECHR issued administrative dismissal decisions for about 25% of the nearly 9,000 applications from Turkey, highlighting the significant impact of errors in the application form on the fate of an application.
Associate Professor Ümit Kılınç, in the second part of the workshop, stressed Turkey's increased need for the ECHR during challenging times. He provided insights into the ECHR's structure, administrative processes, and admissibility criteria for applications.
Dr. Atilla Nalbant, Head of the Turkey Division at the ECHR's Registry, shared that Turkey leads the list of countries with cases filed against it at the ECHR, expecting an increase in applications in the coming years. He detailed how the Court handles applications and the steps taken to manage its increasing workload.
Dr. Rıza Türmen, in the final part of the workshop, discussed the challenges of implementing the ECHR's decisions, mentioning serious discussions about the possibility of expelling Turkey from the Council of Europe if it fails to comply with the Court's decisions in significant cases like those of Demirtaş and Kavala. The workshop concluded with a question-and-answer session, after which plaques were presented to the legal experts by the Batman Bar Association and Veysel Ok.
