Latest Constitutional Amendments are Positive
Although Turkey's President Ahmet Necdet Sezer has still not approved the law, he is not expected to send it back to the parliament. For that reason, it is not too early to evaluate these amendments.
After Turkey ratified the additional protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights, which bans death sentence without exception, the 38th article has been amended to legalize the provision. The provision states people "cannot be sentenced to death."
Nobody will be sentenced to death from now on. Thus, the right to live will be guaranteed.
After the 38th article was amended, it was necessary to also amend articles 15, 17 and 87 to maintain harmony among Constitutional laws.
By regulating the principle of equality, article 10 of the Constitution comprises of equality between men and women. However, the presence of this principle in the Constitution did not make women have equal rights with men or take advantage of their rights as men do.
The principle that "state is responsible for guaranteeing equality between men and women," was included in the Constitution. Emphasizing equality between men and women in this article and including affirmative action for women would have been very beneficial.
However, the changes as they are, and especially when the amendment of article 90 is taken into account, are very positive in terms of guaranteeing the rights of women. From now on, it will be up to the women to spend effort to have their rights accepted and put them into use.
Under article 30 of the Constitution, the printing offices or the likes, established in line with law, could be seized or confiscated as means for crime, if there is a violation of or crime against the inseparable unity of the state with its country and nation, the basic principles of the Republic, or national security. With the recent amendments, such offices will not be seized or confiscated for any reason.
These amendments provide a very important guarantee to media institutions. With this guarantee, the media will feel freer.
The amendment to article 90 legalized the provision, which states: "international agreements will be effective when there are conflicting provisions in international agreements and internal laws on basic rights and freedoms."
With this amendment, the international human rights law became a part of our legal system. This amendment is very important in making the legal system more effective in guaranteeing human rights.
This amendment is also important in terms of women's rights and could, to some degree, overcome the shortcoming of the amendment to article 10. With this law, the Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women will be taken as a basis when there is a contradiction between laws.
With the amendment to paragraph 2 of article 131, the General Staff will not be represented in the Higher Education Board (YOK). Since YOK does not handle national security issues, it was not logical to have a representative from General Staff at the board. Ending this representation is also a step toward a more civilian regime.
Article 143 of the Constitution is lifted. There will be no State Security Courts (DGM) in Turkey anymore. This amendment, which ceases the existence of DGMs, which have been criticized since the day they were established, is of course a positive step. With this amendment every citizen will be able to make use of his or her right to a fair trial.
The Government Accounting Bureau is an institution, which monitors the income and expenses, and assets of all departments with a budget. However, under the last paragraph of article 160 of the Constitution, the Government Accounting Bureau did not have the authority to monitor the finances of the armed forces.
By lifting this paragraph, the finances of the armed forces will be monitored by the Government Accounting Bureau like all other departments with a budget. And thus, the income and expenses of the armed forces will be transparent.
As a result, the amendments to 10 articles of the Constitution are amendments that were needed and demanded for a very long time. Although these amendments are made within the European Union process, they are very positive. These amendments are another positive step in terms of human rights, democratization and a transparent state.
With these amendments, the 1982 Constitution was further improved. Until other backward articles are amended. (ZU/YS/BB)
* Professor Doctor Zafer Uskul; Bogazici University, Political Science and International Relations Department