LAW ON THE SETTLEMENT OF SOME APPLICATIONS LODGED WITH THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
BY MEANS OF PAYING
COMPENSATION
Law No: 6384
Date of Enactment: 9 January 2013
Published in the Official Gazette dated 19 January 2013 No. 28533
Published in the Statute Book: Order 5, Volume 53
The Objective
The English version of this Law is last updated on 29/05/2017
This translation has been produced on the basis of the Turkish version of the Law published on the official legislation website ‘http://www.mevzuat.gov.tr’
ARTICLE 1 – (1) The objective of this Law is to determine the principles and procedures concerning the settlement of some applications lodged with the European Court of Human Rights by means of paying compensation.
The Scope*
ARTICLE 2 – (1) This Law includes the applications lodged with the European Court of Human Rights with the allegations that
a) the investigations and prosecutions within the scope of the criminal law and the proceedings within the scope of the private and administrative law have not been concluded within a reasonable time,
b) the Court’s judgments have been executed late or unsatisfactorily, or have not been executed.
(2) By means of taking into consideration the intensity of the violation judgments rendered against Turkey in line with the established case-law of the European Court of Human Rights on the rights guaranteed under the European Convention of Human Rights and the additional protocols to which Turkey is a party, the provisions of this Law may be applied to the other fields of violation to be proposed by the Ministry of Justice, by the Council of Minister’s decision.
(3) The provisions of this Law shall not be applied to the applications caused by the administrative investigations.
Definitions
ARTICLE 3 – (1) In the application of this Law, the following concepts shall mean;
a) The Ministry: The Ministry of Justice,
b) The Applicant: The ones, who lodge with the European Court of Human Rights,
c) The Application: The application lodged with the European Court of Human Rights,
d) The Commission: The Commission which is established for rendering a decision on the claim for compensation
e) The Request: The request made to the Commission,
f) The Requester: The requesters, who demand compensation from the Commission.
The Commission and its working principles
ARTICLE 4 – (1) A Commission consisting of five members, four members of which shall be appointed by the Minister of Justice among the judges and prosecutors serving in the main, subsidiary and relevant foundations of the Ministry and one member of which shall be appointed by the Minister of Finance among the staff of the Ministry of Finance, shall be established in order to render decision on the requests to be made within the scope of this Law. The President of the Commission shall be appointed by the Minister of Justice among these members.
(2) Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 9, any other duty shall not be assigned to the Commission members until the requests will be concluded.
(3) The Commission shall assemble by an absolute majority of the members and shall take decisions by an absolute majority of the meeting participants.
(4) The secretarial services of the Commission shall be carried out by the Ministry of Justice.
(5) The public institutions and organizations, as well as judicial authorities shall transmit all kinds of information and documents, which the Commission needs within its task scope, to the Commission without delay.
The procedure and time limit for the request
ARTICLE 5 – (1) Request to the Commission shall be made with the official registration admission letter including the date and number of the application to the European Court of Human Rights, the application form and other relevant documents and information, and a signed petition including the identity information of the requester.
(2) The applicant may make a request to the Commission within six months after this article enters into force. Those who fail to make the request within this period may make a request to the Commission within one month after the inadmissibility decision of the European Court of Human Rights, relying merely on the ground that domestic remedies have not been exhausted, is communicated to them.
(3) With the decision of the Council of Ministers;
Those who become entitled to make a request in the cases where,
a) the scope of the law is extended pursuant to Article 2 § 2
b) the time limit is extended pursuant to Article 9 § 2
may enjoy their rights within six months following the publishing of the decision of the Council of Ministers in the Official Gazette.
(4) The request may also be made through the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Offices. The Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office shall immediately send the request document to the Commission. In this case, the date of the request to the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office shall be taken into consideration.
(5) The documents to be prepared for the requests shall be exempted from the stamp tax, and the proceedings to be carried out shall be exempted from the fees.
Rejection of the request
ARTICLE 6 – (1) In the event the Commission determines that;
a) The application of the request does not meet the admissibility requirements other than the requirement to exhaust domestic remedies set forth by the European Court of Human Rights,
b) The request to the Commission is not made within the time limit,
c) The requester does not have a legal interest,
d) The request is not included in the scope of Article 2,
It shall reject the request.
The decision regarding the request and objection to the decision
ARTICLE 7 – (1) The Commission shall render a decision regarding the request within nine months.
(2) The Commission shall render a justified decision regarding the request, taking the precedent judgments of European Court of Human Rights into consideration.
(3) An objection to the Commission decisions may be made to the Ankara Regional Administrative Court within fifteen days following the communication of the decision. The objection petition and all other documents related to the objection shall immediately be sent to the authority for objections. This objection shall be given priority and be resolved within three months. Provided that the Court considers that the decision of the Commission is not deemed appropriate, then a decision shall be made on the merits of the case. The decisions on the objections are final.
(4) The compensation granted shall be paid by the Ministry within three months after the decision becomes final. The documents to be prepared for the request shall be exempted from the stamp tax, and the proceedings to be carried out shall be exempted from the fees.
Communication of the decision to the relevant judicial and administrative authorities
ARTICLE 8 – (1) A copy of the finalized decisions of the Commission following the request shall be sent to the judicial or administrative authorities where the proceeding, the subject matter of the request, is carried out.
(2) In the event the proceeding which is the subject matter of the request is not concluded, this proceeding is concluded immediately by the relevant judicial or administrative authority.
Implementation date
ARTICLE 9 – (1) This Law shall be implemented on the applications registered as of 23.09.2012 before the European Court of Human Rights.
(2) The date mentioned in the first paragraph may be postponed to a further date by the Council of Ministers upon the proposal of the Ministry.
PROVISIONAL ARTICLE 1 – (1) The members of the Commission shall be appointed within a month following the publishing of this Law at the latest.
Enforcement
ARTICLE 10
a) Article 5 of this Law enters into force one month after the date of publishing,
b) The other articles enter into force on the date of publishing.
Implementation
ARTICLE 11 – The Council of Ministers conducts the implementation of the provisions of this Law.
*Please refer to the Decision in the Annex to Council of Ministers Decision dated 25/1/2016 and No. 2016/8509 promulgated in the Official Gazette dated 9/3/2016 and No. 29648 for the implementation of this Article.