{"id":16609,"date":"2026-02-17T20:08:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T20:08:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/16609\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T20:08:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T20:08:17","slug":"lawyers-challenge-appointment-of-new-justice-minister-at-top-administrative-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/16609\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawyers challenge appointment of new justice minister at top administrative court"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A group of lawyers led by \u00d6mer Faruk Emina\u011fao\u011flu, the founding president of the now-closed Union of Judges and Prosecutors (YARSAV), has filed a lawsuit with Turkey\u2019s Council of State seeking to annul President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan\u2019s recent\u00a0appointment<\/a>\u00a0of controversial \u0130stanbul chief public prosecutor Ak\u0131n G\u00fcrlek as justice minister, Turkish Minute <\/a>reported.<\/p>\n

The petition, submitted by Emina\u011fao\u011flu and a group of lawyers from the Ankara Bar Association, seeks the annulment of the presidential decree appointing G\u00fcrlek and a stay, arguing that it violates constitutional provisions prohibiting the holding of a second public office and guarantees afforded to prosecutors.<\/p>\n

Erdo\u011fan appointed G\u00fcrlek, who had been \u0130stanbul\u2019s chief public prosecutor since October 2024, as justice minister in a cabinet reshuffle announced last week.<\/p>\n

The appointment has\u00a0drawn<\/a>\u00a0criticism from the main opposition Republican People\u2019s Party (CHP) and legal experts as it came after G\u00fcrlek oversaw politically charged cases involving opposition-run municipalities, including an investigation targeting \u0130stanbul Mayor Ekrem \u0130mamo\u011flu, widely seen as Erdo\u011fan\u2019s main rival.<\/p>\n

Speaking outside the Council of State on Monday, Emina\u011fao\u011flu claimed that G\u00fcrlek\u2019s judicial post as a public prosecutor had not formally ended at the moment he was appointed minister, making the move incompatible with Article 140 of the constitution, which bars judges and prosecutors from holding a second public office.<\/p>\n

He noted that the legal status of a minister begins at the moment the appointment is published in the Official Gazette, not when an oath is taken in parliament.<\/p>\n

Citing settled case law from the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of Appeals, the Council of State and the Supreme Election Board (YSK), Emina\u011fao\u011flu said legal status arises at the decisive act itself rather than at subsequent procedural steps.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this context, the moment of appointment is the moment when ministerial rights and responsibilities begin,\u201d he said, adding that publication in the Official Gazette triggered the constitutional violation and that they had therefore filed for annulment effective from the moment of appointment.<\/p>\n

Emina\u011fao\u011flu also cited Article 139 of the constitution, which guarantees the tenure of judges and prosecutors and prohibits their dismissal except under conditions explicitly provided by law.<\/p>\n

He argued that if G\u00fcrlek\u2019s prosecutorial office is deemed to have ended automatically upon his appointment as minister, this would amount to removal from office by administrative act, which he said is constitutionally impermissible.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one can be removed from the office of prosecutor through an administrative decision,\u201d he said. \u201cEven if it is called an \u2018appointment,\u2019 what has been done constitutes a violation of the constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawsuit also raises concerns about G\u00fcrlek\u2019s new role as chair of the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK), the top judicial body responsible for appointments, promotions and disciplinary matters within the judiciary. Under Turkey\u2019s system, the justice minister automatically serves as the head of the HSK.<\/p>\n

Emina\u011fao\u011flu said numerous complaints have been filed against G\u00fcrlek regarding actions taken during his tenure in the judiciary and argued that, as HSK chair, he would effectively be involved in oversight mechanisms concerning himself.<\/p>\n

The petition requests a stay on the grounds that G\u00fcrlek\u2019s actions as justice minister and HSK chair could create irreversible legal consequences.<\/p>\n

A former deputy justice minister and a judge, G\u00fcrlek has been accused by opponents of going after Erdo\u011fan\u2019s rivals.<\/p>\n

Since G\u00fcrlek\u2019s appointment as \u0130stanbul\u2019s chief public prosecutor in October 2024, more than 15 CHP mayors have been arrested, most of them on corruption charges that they deny.<\/p>\n

He has also ordered investigations into hundreds of CHP members on charges ranging from graft to terrorism ties and insulting the president.<\/p>\n

\u0130mamo\u011flu, 54, is currently facing a string of legal cases, including one in which he is accused of questioning G\u00fcrlek\u2019s integrity.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors have also opened an investigation into CHP leader \u00d6zg\u00fcr \u00d6zel over allegations that he threatened and insulted G\u00fcrlek.<\/p>\n

Government officials have denied claims that legal proceedings against opposition figures are politically motivated, insisting that Turkey\u2019s judiciary operates independently.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A group of lawyers led by \u00d6mer Faruk Emina\u011fao\u011flu, the founding president of the now-closed Union of Judges…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[8581,12011,12012,12013,12014,131,132,155,12015],"class_list":{"0":"post-16609","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-stockholm","8":"tag-akin-gurlek","9":"tag-ankara-bar-association","10":"tag-omer-faruk-eminagaoglu","11":"tag-presidential-decree","12":"tag-prosecutors","13":"tag-stockholm","14":"tag-sweden","15":"tag-turkey","16":"tag-turkeys-council-of-state"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}