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Developments in the Legal Field
In addition, to its objective of ensuring Justice, Turkish
Law has also assumed the important function of elevating
Turkish society to levels of contemporary civilization.
In fact, although the pace of legal reforms quickened after
the formation of the republic in Turkey, the law actually
started to be taken up during the times of the Ottoman State,
and then commenced to be put into written form.
The Gulhane Hatt-i Humayun (Gulhane Royal Edict) of 1839
aimed to solve the problems that had accumulated in the
previous 150 years and to strengthen the weakened states.
The Islahat Ferman (Royal Edict of Reform) of 1856 also
aimed at modernizing and ensuring freedom of religion and
conviction. It also prohibited torture and maltreatment
by providing that these be so enacted in the Criminal and
Civil Procedures Code.
The 1875 document, the Adalet Ferman (Royal Edict of Justice),
provided for the security of Judges of Law.
This edict stipulated that Judges may not be removed from
office nor transferred to another office without justification.
The 1876 Kanun'u Esasiye (Basic Law or Constitution) was
a document that resembled written western constitutions.
In addition to defining the main organizational structure
of the state, it also set forth basic rights and liberties
of Ottoman subjects and stipulated that the courts and the
judges be secure from all external interventions; such a
written principle thus took place in this Constitution for
the first time.
However, in spite of the realization of these legal reforms,
the Ottoman state, right up until the very days when the
Republic was formed, did not achieve what modern legal systems
need to have in essence: the implementation of secular legal
thinking. This was never achieved. Nevertheless, the 1921
"Teskilat-i Esasiye" Constitution stipulated that
any provisions of religious law were to be implemented only
by the Grand National Assembly. It also provided, however,
for the continuation of the dual legal system; that in addition
to religious law, legal proceedings on the basis of secular
law were also to be continued and practiced.
The reform of the Turkish Law only took place in the full
sense during the Republican era with the abolishment of
the Ministry of Canonical Law in 1924. The unification of
education throughout Turkey also came in 1924; the "Tekke"
(Dervish Lodges) and the "Zaviye" (Religious Sect
cells) were closed in 1925: and especially with the enactment
of the new Turkish Civil Code in 1926, the secular law reform
was finally completed. The principle of secularism was enshrined
in the Turkish Constitution with an amendment made during
1937.
Judiciary Branch
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