OPINION ON THE PROVISIONS OF THE EMERGENCY DECREE LAW N° 674 OF 1 SEPTEMBER 2016 WHICH CONCERN THE EXERCISE OF LOCAL DEMOCRACY IN TURKEY

Venice Commission Opinion By Richard Clayton QC

Introduction

By letter of 13 April 2017, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe requested the Venice Commission to prepare an opinion on the measures in the Emergency Decree Law n° 674 of 1 September 2016 which concern the exercise of local democracy in Turkey (CDL-REF(2016)061), hereinafter the “Decree Law”.

The Commission invited Mr Richard Clayton, Ms Regina Kiener and Mr Jan Velaers, to act as rapporteurs for this opinion.

The present Opinion was prepared on the basis of contributions by the rapporteurs and on the basis on the English translation of the Decree Law as provided by the Turkish authorities to the Council of Europe. Inaccuracies may occur in this Opinion as a result of incorrect translations.

Given that it was not possible to conduct a visit to Turkey to hold exchanges with the Turkish authorities and other interested stakeholders, the rapporteurs mainly relied, for the factual information, on reports by other Council of Europe bodies, in particular the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities.

This opinion was adopted by the Venice Commission at its 112th Plenary Session (Venice, 6-7 October 2017.

A copy of the full opinion is here.  

9 October 2017