New charter will redefine top court, judiciary, PM says

The new constitution being written by the ruling party will bring about a new definition for the role of the entire judiciary, including the Constitutional Court, the Turkish prime minister has said, adding they wouldn't allow any constitutional body to establish superiority over the will of the people.  

"It should be the people that use its will. The sovereignty that is used by constitutional bodies cannot be regarded as the people's will," Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu said on March 27, during a meeting with journalists in Amman. Davuto?lu recalled the constitution made in the early 1960s following the coup d'état which introduced a number of constitutional bodies that imposed tutelage over democratically elected politicians. 

"Of course all of these will be redefined. The judiciary will be redefined. And the legislative cannot continue in the current understanding. It should be noted that what the Constitutional Court has been doing is not using the people's will and it should not be. Courts are to provide justice; the sovereignty, however, should be used by the freely elected representatives of the people."  

Davuto?lu's statements came as he instructed his party to speed up efforts to draft the new constitution after a parliamentary commission formed by the four parties in parliament was dissolved. "We can't leave this promise of ours unfulfilled just because other parties failed to do their share. People would cool to the idea of a new constitution if no concrete steps are taken," he said.  

The structure of the new constitution will be readied within a month or so, he said, hinting it wouldn't be based on political conjuncture, as his party still needed at least 14 lawmakers to bring the new constitution to a referendum. ...