The UIA Deplores New Repressive Measures against the Legal Profession in Turkey

The Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA - Internationale Association of Lawyers) is outraged by the repressive measures against the legal profession announced by the Turkish Government on October 29, 2016. According to press reports, the Turkish Government will no longer permit Turkish lawyers representing alleged “terrorists” to meet with their clients in private, but instead will require that a prison guard be present during all such meetings. In addition, all attorney-client conversations will be recorded by the Turkish authorities and all documents exchanged between lawyer and client will be inspected by the Turkish authorities, who also will have the right to bar lawyers from visiting such clients at all for periods of as much as six months.

These repressive measures constitute a grave violation of Turkey’s obligations as a member of the Council of Europe, of the UN Basic principles on the Role of Lawyers (Havana 1990) and of the European Convention on Human Rights which remain applicable notwithstanding the declaration of Tukey to suspend it due to the status of emergency. Moreover, they reflect the apparent determination of the Turkish Government to use the current “state of emergency” as an excuse to violate one of the most fundamental principles of the Rule of Law: the right of an accused to the confidential assistance of an independent lawyer. Pending careful review of the decrees, the UIA wishes to remind the Turkish authorities of Turkey’s obligations under international law. These decrees appear to violate the fundamental rights to effective legal representation, fair trial and due process, as well as other fundamental rights which Turkey has agreed to uphold, including those set forth in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers.

The UIA calls upon all Governments, and all Bars, Law Societies and legal associations throughout the world, to make clear to the Government of Turkey that these repressive and authoritarian measures must be withdrawn, and that the continued deprivation by the Turkish Government of the fundamental rights of Turkish citizens and its continued persecution of the lawyers who defend those rights will have severe consequences for Turkey’s political and economic future.

The UIA will continue to monitor closely the situation in Turkey, and will continue to speak out in defence of the rights of Turkish citizens and the lawyers who protect them.