The Sixth and the Final Training Seminar of the Project on Raising Awareness on the Procedures of the Individual Application in the Area of Human Rights was held in İstanbul

The Sixth and the Final Training Seminar of the Project on Raising Awareness on the Procedures of the Individual Application in the Area of Human Rights was held in İstanbul

The sixth and the final Training Seminar of the Project on “Raising Awareness on the Procedures of the Individual Application in the Area of Human Rights” was held on 31 October 2014 in İstanbul.

The Project is supported by the British Embassy in the framework of Reuniting Europe Programme and implemented by the Ministry for EU Affairs jointly with the Constitutional Court, Ombudsman Institution, Human Rights Institution of Türkiye and Ministry of Justice.

Representatives from provincial and district human rights committees, bar associations, professional organisations, civil society organizations, and local media participated in the project seminar which aims to raise the awareness in the society about the newly introduced application procedures in the field of human rights.

In the opening speech, Mr. Ege Erkoçak (Director of Political Affairs-Ministry for EU Affairs) stated that important reforms have been carried out in the field of protection of human rights in order to strengthen the fundamental rights and freedoms within the scope of Copenhagen Political Criteria and Chapter 23 Judiciary and Fundamental Rights within the accession negotiations.

During the speech, it was also stated that Türkiye’s EU accession process has been an important catalyst for reforms and institutionalisation in the field of human rights in Türkiye. In this regard, it was also emphasized that one of the most important steps has been the introduction of the right for individual application to the Constitutional Court within the framework of Constitutional Amendment Package in 2010 and the establishment of the Ombudsman Institution and Human Rights Institution of Türkiye in 2012.

Additionally, it was also stressed that the new EU Strategy for Accession to the EU, the National Action Plan and the Communication Strategy which are prepared by the Ministry for EU Affairs in coordination with the relevant ministries and public institutions are indicators of Türkiye’s strong reform commitment and guarantee of the sustainability of the reforms.

Furthermore, representatives of the institutions (The Constitutional Court, Human Rights Institution and Ombudsman Institution) made presentations on daily functioning of the institutions; individual application procedure, complaint handling procedure, filing techniques, registering, investigating, decision making process.