State of emergency committee to speed up decision process

The State of Emergency Procedures Investigation Committee is set to step up its effectiveness and make decisions in a shorter period of time as data gathering processes are now complete.

The committee has been examining complaints from citizens who believe they were wrongfully suspended or dismissed from their duties with statutory decrees since the July 15, 2016 coup attempt.

It has been reported in the media that officials from the commission said as of Jan. 10, over 104,398 people have applied, while 108,736 were dismissed from their duties. The investigative process has been followed with a barcode system. Following the statutory decree, the institution collects related data and when the applications are made, the data is used. Thus, the process to examine the applications will be substantially shortened, officials from the commission said.

On Jan. 23, the State of Emergency Procedures Investigation Committee was established to evaluate and make decisions regarding complaints related to operations made under the state of emergency decree laws with the intention of unblocking administrative objection means. The commission started to receive complaints in July and has seven members, three of whom were appointed by the prime minister, one by the Justice Ministry, one by the Interior Ministry and two by the Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK).

The committee can demand any information and documents from public institutions and judicial authorities except for documents subject to confidentiality as part of ongoing investigations or otherwise classified state secrets. Public institutions and judicial authorities are obliged to immediately provide the requested information to the commission and facilitate any inquiries.