A legislative proposal on the first package of the Judicial Reform Strategy Document was submitted by ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) deputies to the Presidency of the Assembly yesterday.

AK Party Group Deputy Chairman Mehmet Muş said they submitted a 39-item legislative proposal on the first package of the Judicial Reform Strategy Document to the Presidency of the Assembly and added: "Before the proposal, we visited the opposition parties, listened to them and received their convictions. We believe that we have prepared a regulation to meet the needs of society."

Muş also shared the details of the law proposal with members of the press. "After that, we will submit other packages within the framework of the Judicial Reform Strategy Document to the presidency of the Assembly. Today, it was the first proposal consisting of 39 items." he said.

Explaining the prominent regulations in the proposal, Muş stated that crimes about freedom of expression, which were finalized in the court of appeal, can be applied to the Supreme Court. Muş said the regulation aims to ensure the unity of case law. Reiterating previous practices that blocked or limited access to some websites, Muş said new regulations do not target the entire content of a website, but restrict certain content. "Therefore, the website can remain open, but only the elements subject to crimes or complaints will be blocked. We will prevent the entire website from being blocked," he explained.

Commenting on the reactions from opposition parties, Muş said there has not been a serious criticism against the content of the proposal. "It is a positive package for Turkey's legal system. There were certain critics and offers. We made some regulations about them," he added.

On May 30, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced a new judicial reform to strengthen the independent, objective, accountable and transparent features of the judiciary. The judicial reform strategy consists of two basic perspectives, nine targets, 63 objectives and 256 activities. The nine targets are: protection and improvement of rights and freedoms; improvements of judicial independence, objectivity and transparency; improving both the quality and quantity of human resources; increasing performance and productivity; enabling the right of defense to be used effectively; making justice more approachable; increasing the effectiveness of the penalty justice system; simplifying civil justice and administrative procedure; and lastly, popularizing alternative mediating methods. Prepared by the Justice Ministry for the period of 2019-2023, the reform strategy envisions a "trust ensuring, approachable justice system."