Turkey
The following Justice Initiative projects are underway in, or relevant to, Turkey:
Freedom of Information and Expression
Turkey adopts Freedom of Information Law
The Turkish “Law on the Right to Information” (Law No 4982; English translation here), was adopted on October 9, 2003, by unanimous parliamentary vote. The new law establishes a right for all legal and natural persons (i.e. not just Turkish citizens) to request information and documents held by the authorities.
Legal Capacity Development
Turkey: Legal Clinic
In response to a proposal to establish a legal clinic at the Istanbul campus of Bilgi University, a private institution, the Justice Initiative organized a study tour to ELTE University in Budapest in March 2003 for five members of the Bilgi University law school faculty, including the law school dean, Turgut Tarhanli. The March study visit encouraged the Bilgi faculty members to initiate a law clinic in Istanbul. The Justice Initiative organized a day-long clinical meeting at Bilgi University on 18 June 2003 to introduce the idea to other faculty members and discuss concretely plans for the establishment and structure of the proposed clinic. Several areas of focus for the clinical program were identified: children’s rights/juvenile justice; refugee rights; street law; NGO legal aid/not-for profit clinic; and Roma rights. A clinical program is presently under development for the 2003-04 academic year.
Human Rights and Public Interest Law Fellows Retreat (Istambul)
Organized by the Open Society Justice Initiative in partnership with Columbia University's Public Interest Law Initiative, the Central European University's Legal Studies Department and the OSI Network Scholarship Program. The range of fellows' interests, as demonstrated by the papers presented, was as rich and varied as the nationalities in attendance. Subjects included a first-hand account of a sustained legal challenge to the forced sterilization of Romani women in Slovakia; the legality of so-called "Article 98" bilateral agreements used by the U.S. to shield its nationals from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court; the surge in importance of civil society organizations in Indonesia since 1998; and an analysis of discrimination against women in citizenship regimes in many countries globally.