The Turkish Constitutional Court During the State of Emergency Between 2016 and 2018

Abstract

This article investigates the judicial approach of the Turkish Constitutional Court (TCC) during the period of state of emergency between 2016 and 2018 in Türkiye. Like its counterparts facing similar challenges, the TCC has endeavored to strike a balance between defeating grave threats to the constitutional system and defending fundamental rights in a time of public emergency. While constitutional courts should try to protect constitutional rights from executive abuse of emergency powers, they should do so without jeopardizing the effectiveness of these measures in countering threats to the nation. During the period of state of emergency, the TCC adopted a deferential stance in its constitutionality review cases arising from its textualist interpretation of the constitution, which explicitly prohibits the review of emergency decrees. However, the Court embraced a posture of rights protection in its individual applications procedure, which requires the TCC to follow case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).