Parliamentary Immunity
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Democracy and the Politics of Parliamentary Immunity in Turkey
121 Democracy and the politics NEW PERSPECTIVES ON TURKEY of parliamentary immunity in Turkey Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Gürcan Koçan ‹stanbul Technical University Department of Philosophy, Simon Wigley Bilkent University In Turkey there is currently a widespread public desire to narrow the extent to which parliamentarians are immune from the law. That desire is largely motivated by the perception that political corruption is widespread and that parliamentary immunity only serves to obstruct the fight against it.1 As a result, a number of political parties have based their electoral platforms on the promise to limit the scope of parliamentary immunity once in office. As of yet, none have carried through their promise and this has only served to reinforce the public view that parliamentarians see their immunity as a personal privilege. Irrespective of the merits of that charge, there is a genuine concern that confronts Turkish deputies, which means that they will be less likely to limit the immunity once elected. Their concern is that current law does not adequately protect civil and political liberties and that the judiciary is not yet sufficiently evenhanded in its treatment of political cases. In effect, the fight against political corruption has been frustrated in part because of the risk to free speech that exposure to the law might entail. The almost contradictory position of the European Union well illustrates the problem. On the one hand, it is exerting pressure on the Turkish government to narrow parliamentary immunity so as to combat political corruption,2 while on the other hand it continues to raise concerns about the prosecution of non-violent expression and the partiality of the judiciary in Turkey.3 1 Ercis Kurtulufl, Country Reports on Political Corruption and Party Financing – Turkey (Transparency International, 2004); available from www.transparency.org. -
The Functioning of Democratic Institutions in Turkey
http://assembly.coe.int Doc. 15272 21 April 2021 The functioning of democratic institutions in Turkey Report1 Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee) Co-rapporteurs: Mr Thomas HAMMARBERG, Sweden, Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group, and Mr John HOWELL, United Kingdom, European Conservatives Group and Democratic Alliance Summary The Monitoring Committee is deeply concerned about recent developments in Turkey which have further undermined democracy, the rule of law and human rights. Procedures seeking to lift the parliamentary immunity of a third of the parliamentarians (overwhelmingly from opposition parties), the attempt to close the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and the continued crackdown on its members put political pluralism and the functioning of democratic institutions at risk. The presidential decision of 20 March 2021 to withdraw from the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (CETS No.210, the Istanbul Convention) to combat violence against women and domestic violence is a regrettable step backwards, made without any parliamentary debate, which raises the question of the modalities of denunciation of conventions in democratic societies. The committee also urges the immediate release of Selahattin Demirtaş and Osman Kavala following the final judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. In order to reverse these worrying trends, the Turkish authorities should seize the opportunity of implementing the Human Rights Action Plan and revising the legislation on elections and political parties to take meaningful steps, put an end to the judicial harassment of opposition and dissenting voices, improve freedom of expression and media and restore the independence of the judiciary, in co-operation with the Council of Europe 1. -
Report of Proceedings of Tynwald Court
REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS OF TYNWALD COURT Douglas, Tuesday, February 17, 1976 Present: The Governor (Sir John ing Bill; Social Security Legislation Paul,- G.C.M.G., O.B.E., M .C.), In the (Application) (Amendment) Bill; and Council: the Lord Bishop (the Rt. Rev. the Animal Offences Bill. If the Court Vernon Nicholls), the Attorney General concurs we will continue with our ('Mr. J. W. Corrin), Messrs. J. B. •business while these are being signed. Bolton, O.B.E., G. T. Crellin, E. N. It was agreed. Crowe, O.B.E., R. E. S. Kerruish, G. V. H. Kneale, J. C. ¡Nivison, W. E. Quayle, A. H. Sim'cocks, M.B.E., with PAPERS LAID (BEFORE THE COURT Mr. P. J. Hulme, Clerk oi the Council. The Governor: Item 3, I call upon In the Keys : The Speaker (Mr. H. C. the Clerk to lay papers. Kerruish, O.B.E.), Messrs. R. J. G. The Clerk: I lay before the C ourt:— Anderson, H. D. C. MacLeod, G. M. Kermeen, J. C. Clucas, P. Radcliffe, Governor’s Duties and Powers — J. R. Creer, E. Ranson, P. A. Spittall, Third Interim. Report o f the Select T. C. Faragher, N. Q. Cringle, E. G. Committee of Tynwald. Lowey, Mrs. E. C. Quayle, Messrs. W- Cremation Act 1957 — Cremation A. Moore, J.J. Bell, E. M. Ward, B.E.M., Regulations 1976. E. C. Irving, Miss K. E. Cowin, Mr. Value Added Tax — Value Added G. A. Devereau, Mrs. B. Q. Hanson, Tax (Isle of Man) (Fuel and Power) Messrs. R. MacDonald, P. -
Manifesto 52 Former MEP Immunity of Carles
March 5, 2021 On February 23, the Committee on Legal Affairs of the European Parliament voted in favour (15 votes in favour including the votes of the Spanish parties PP, PSOE, Ciudadanos and the far- right VOX; 8 against and 2 abstentions), of a report that recommends to the Plenary to lift the immunity of our colleagues MEPs Carles Puigdemont, Toni Comín and Clara Ponsatí. The vote on this report will take place in the next plenary session, taking place next week.. The undersigned, former Members of the European Parliament, call on the Members of the European Parliament who are to take part in this vote, to vote against this proposal and therefore in favour of protecting the immunity of their colleagues Mr. Puigdemont, Mr. Comín and Ms. Ponsatí. First, because the court that requests the waiver of their immunity, the Spanish Supreme Court, is not the competent authority to make the request, as it was argued before the JURI Committee, and neither is it an impartial court, as recently established by the Belgian justice, since the Brussels Court of Appeals found that Lluís Puig, former Minister of the Catalan Government in exile, could not be impartially judged by this Spanish Court. Second, there is evidence that these three Members of the European Parliament are suffering political persecution. This political persecution is based on evidence, such as the judicial obstacles to prevent them from running in the European elections, the presence of up to five Spanish MEPs on the JURI Committee and their public statements on the report before, during, and after the vote; the inclusion of wrong charges in the report of Clara Ponsatí; or the leaking of the report before the vote to a far-right newspaper in Spain. -
The Anglo-Saxon Period of English Law
THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD OF ENGLISH LAW We find the proper starting point for the history of English law in what are known as Anglo-Saxon times. Not only does there seem to be no proof, or evidence of the existence of any Celtic element in any appreciable measure in our law, but also, notwithstanding the fact that the Roman occupation of Britain had lasted some four hundred years when it terminated in A. D. 410, the last word of scholarship does not bring to light any trace of the law of Imperial Rome, as distinct from the precepts and traditions of the Roman Church, in the earliest Anglo- Saxon documents. That the written dooms of our kings are the purest specimen of pure Germanic law, has been the verdict of one scholar after another. Professor Maitland tells us that: "The Anglo-Saxon laws that have come down to us (and we have no reason to fear the loss of much beyond some dooms of the Mercian Offa) are best studied as members of a large Teutonic family. Those that proceed from the Kent and Wessex of the seventh century are closely related to the Continental folk-laws. Their next of kin seem to be the Lex Saxonum and the laws of the Lom- bards."1 Whatever is Roman in them is ecclesiastical, the system which in course of time was organized as the Canon law. Nor are there in England any traces of any Romani who are being suffered to live under their own law by their Teutonic rulers. -
Parliamentary Immunity
Parliamentary Immunity Background Paper prepared by the Inter-Parliamentary Union UNDP Initiative on Parliaments, Crisis Prevention and Recovery In association with the Inter-Parliamentary Union September 2006 The views expressed in this public ation are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the United Nations, including UNDP, or their Member States Table of contents Page Introduction.................................................................................. 1 1. The purpose of immunity for members of parliament .. 2 2. What kind of parliamentary immunity? 2.1. Two major systems of immunity ............................... 2 2.2 Historical background............................................... 3 3. Legal basis for parliamentary immunity .......................... 4 4. The scope of freedom of speech (parliamentary non- accountability) .............................................................................................. 4 4.1. Who is protected? .............................................................. 5 4.2 When does the protection begin and end?.................. 5 4.3 Does the protection apply everywhere? ....................... 5 4.4. "Exercise of the parliamentary mandate": What does it mean? (a) Activities undertaken in the context of parliamentary proceedings 6 (b) Repeating outside parliament words spoken in parliament 6 (c) Activities and statements made as part of constituency and general political work ............................................... 6 (d) Reproduction of parliamentary -
The Medieval English Borough
THE MEDIEVAL ENGLISH BOROUGH STUDIES ON ITS ORIGINS AND CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY BY JAMES TAIT, D.LITT., LITT.D., F.B.A. Honorary Professor of the University MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS 0 1936 MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS Published by the University of Manchester at THEUNIVERSITY PRESS 3 16-324 Oxford Road, Manchester 13 PREFACE its sub-title indicates, this book makes no claim to be the long overdue history of the English borough in the Middle Ages. Just over a hundred years ago Mr. Serjeant Mere- wether and Mr. Stephens had The History of the Boroughs Municipal Corporations of the United Kingdom, in three volumes, ready to celebrate the sweeping away of the medieval system by the Municipal Corporation Act of 1835. It was hardly to be expected, however, that this feat of bookmaking, good as it was for its time, would prove definitive. It may seem more surprising that the centenary of that great change finds the gap still unfilled. For half a century Merewether and Stephens' work, sharing, as it did, the current exaggera- tion of early "democracy" in England, stood in the way. Such revision as was attempted followed a false trail and it was not until, in the last decade or so of the century, the researches of Gross, Maitland, Mary Bateson and others threw a fiood of new light upon early urban development in this country, that a fair prospect of a more adequate history of the English borough came in sight. Unfortunately, these hopes were indefinitely deferred by the early death of nearly all the leaders in these investigations. -
Should Politicians Be Prosecuted for Statements Made in the Exercise of Their Mandate?
Provisional version Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights Should politicians be prosecuted for statements made in the exercise of their mandate? Report Rapporteur: Mr Boriss Cilevičs, Latvia, Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group A. Draft resolution 1. The Assembly stresses the crucial importance, in a living democracy, of politicians being able to freely exercise their mandates. This requires a particularly high level of protection of politicians’ freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, both in parliament and when speaking to their constituents in public meetings or through the media. 2. The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR, the Convention) protects everyone’s freedom of speech, including the right to make statements that “shock or disturb” those who do not share the same opinions, as established in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court). 3. The Assembly also notes that freedom of speech is not unlimited. Hate speech condoning violence against certain persons or groups of persons on the grounds of race, origin, religion or political opinions, as well as calls for the violent overthrow of democratic institutions are not protected. Politicians even have a special responsibility, due to their high visibility, to refrain from such abuses. 4. Everyone, and in particular politicians, has the right to make proposals whose implementation would require changes of the constitution, provided the means advocated are peaceful and legal and the objectives do not run contrary to the fundamental principles of democracy and human rights. 5. This includes calls to change a centralist constitution into a federal or confederal one, or vice versa, or to change the legal status and powers of territorial (local and regional) entities, including to grant them a high degree of autonomy or even independence. -
English Legal History Mon., 13 Sep
Outline--English Legal History Mon., 13 Sep. Page 1 ANGLO-SAXON CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY IN BRIEF SOURCES 1. Narrative history: Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Bede died 735); the Anglo- Saxon Chronicle (late 9th to mid-12th centuries); Gildas, On the Downfall and Conquest of Britain (1st half of 6th century). 2. The so-called “law codes,” beginning with Æthelberht (c. 600) and going right up through Cnut (d. 1035). 3. Language and literature: Beowulf, lyric poetry, translations of pieces of the Bible, sermons, saints’ lives, medical treatises, riddles, prayers 4. Place-names; geographical features 5. Coins 6. Art and archaeology 7. Charters BASIC CHRONOLOGY 1. The main chronological periods (Mats. p. II–1): ?450–600 — The invasions to Æthelberht of Kent Outline--English Legal History Mon., 13 Sep. Page 2 600–835 — (A healthy chunk of time here; the same amount of time that the United States has been in existence.) The period of the Heptarchy—overlordships moving from Northumbria to Mercia to Wessex. 835–924 — The Danish Invasions. 924–1066 — The kingdom of England ending with the Norman Conquest. 2. The period of the invasions (Bede on the origins of the English settlers) (Mats. p. II–1), 450–600 They came from three very powerful nations of the Germans, namely the Saxons, the Angles and the Jutes. From the stock of the Jutes are the people of Kent and the people of Wight, that is, the race which holds the Isle of Wight, and that which in the province of the West Saxons is to this day called the nation of the Jutes, situated opposite that same Isle of Wight. -
The Medieval Parliament
THE MEDIEVAL PARLIAMENT General 4006. Allen, John. "History of the English legislature." Edinburgh Review 35 (March-July 1821): 1-43. [Attributed in the Wellesley Index; a review of the "Reports on the Dignity of a Peer".] 4007. Arnold, Morris S. "Statutes as judgments: the natural law theory of parliamentary activities in medieval England." University of Pennsylvania Law Review 126 (1977-78): 329-43. 4008. Barraclough, G. "Law and legislation in medieval England." Law Quarterly Review 56 (1940): 75-92. 4009. Bemont, Charles. "La séparation du Parlement anglais en deux Chambres." In Actes du premier Congrès National des Historiens Français. Paris 20-23 Avril 1927, edited by Comite Français des Sciences Historiques: 33-35. Paris: Éditions Rieder, 1928. 4010. Betham, William. Dignities, feudal and parliamentary, and the constitutional legislature of the United Kingdom: the nature and functions of the Aula Regis, the Magna Concilia and the Communa Concilia of England, and the history of the parliaments of France, England, Scotland, and Ireland, investigated and considered with a view to ascertain the origin, progress, and final establishment of legislative parliaments, and the dignity of a peer, or Lord of Parliament. London: Thomas and William Boone, 1830. xx, 379p. [A study of the early history of the Parliaments of England, Ireland and Scotland, with special emphasis on the peerage; Vol. I only published.] 4011. Bodet, Gerald P. Early English parliaments: high courts, royal councils, or representative assemblies? Problems in European civilization. Boston, Mass.: Heath, 1967. xx,107p. [A collection of extracts from leading historians.] 4012. Boutmy, E. "La formation du Parlement en Angleterre." Revue des Deux Mondes 68 (March-April 1885): 82-126. -
Parliamentary Immunity in Democratizing Countries: the Case of Turkey
Parliamentary Immunity in Democratizing Countries: The Case of Turkey Simon Wigley Human Rights Quarterly, Volume 31, Number 3, August 2009, pp. 567-591 (Article) Published by Johns Hopkins University Press DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/hrq.0.0087 For additional information about this article https://muse.jhu.edu/article/271215 Access provided by Bilkent Universitesi (3 Oct 2017 07:29 GMT) HUMAN RIGHTS QUARTERLY Parliamentary Immunity in Democratizing Countries: The Case of Turkey Simon Wigley* ABstract This article examines the effect that shielding elected representatives from criminal law might have in those countries that are undergoing democra- tization. Parliamentary immunity helps to compensate for any shortfall in the human rights enjoyed by ordinary citizens and provides elected repre- sentatives with the protection necessary to rectify that shortfall. However, the immunity may also protect subversive advocacy, rights violations and political corruption. Turkey provides an illuminating case study of those challenges to parliamentary immunity. Drawing on the Turkish experience, it is argued that methods other than exposing parliamentarians to criminal prosecution should be used to counter those problems. I. INTRODUCTION Historically, parliamentary immunity has been seen as an important demo- cratic right because it protects the ability of elected assemblies to debate and vote without interference by nonelected authorities. However, it is not a right that is intended to protect parliamentarians themselves, but to * Simon Wigley received his Ph.D. in politics from the London School of Economics and Po- litical Science. Since 1998 he has taught in the philosophy department at Bilkent University (Turkey). His research interests include democratic theory, distributive justice and Turkish studies. -
The Anglo-Saxons
The Anglo-Saxons “In the case of the king, the resources and tools with which to rule are that he have his land fully manned: he must have praying men, fighting men and working men. You know also that without these tools no king may make his ability known.” King Alfred’s digressions in his translation of Boethius’s “Consolation of Philosophy” This module includes the following topics: ❖ Anglo-Saxon Timeline ❖ The Anglo-Saxons ❖ Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms ❖ Society and Structure ❖ Anglo-Saxon Kings End of Anglo-Saxon ❖ Depiction of an Anglo- Kingdom Saxon King with nobles LEARNING OBJECTIVES KEY WORDS At the end of the module, Anglo- Tithing you should be able to: Hundreds Trace the beginning and Saxon ❖ Normans end of the Anglo-Saxon Jutes Burghs period of England Saxons ❖ Map the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms Angles ❖ Be familiar with the rule Kingdoms and succession of Paganism Anglo-Saxon kings Christianity ❖ Analyse the life and society of the Anglo- Saxons ANGLO-SAXON TIMELINE In 410, after the By 793, Danish By 597, St. Augustine, an sacking of Rome by Viking raiders Italian monk, arrived in Alaric, King of the began attacking Kent and founded a Goths, Roman Lindisfarne, Jarrow, Benedictine monastery at legions departed and Iona. Canterbury and converted from Britannia. the King of Kent to Alfred the Great By 449, three Christianity. defeated the Danes shiploads of at Edington in 878. Saxon warriors In 635, Aidan founded a led by Hengist monastery in and Horsa arrived Lindisfarne, followed by in Kent. the Synod of Whitby in 664. According to legends, King Arthur defeated the Saxons at Mount Badon in 518.