Events
The applicant, who was a deputy on the date of the incident, was temporarily expelled from the two Assemblies due to the statements he used in his speech during the negotiations of the “Draft Budget Law for 2018 and the Final Accounts Law for 2016“, and as a result, the 163rd Amendment of the Rules of Procedure of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TGNA). in accordance with the article, it was decided to cut off one month’s allowance and two-thirds of his travel allowance. Marches January, February and March 2018 The applicant left the General Assembly hall upon this decision and the penalty related to the salary deduction was reflected in the salary of January, February and March 2018. The applicant filed an individual application directly to the Constitutional Court within the thirty-day application period against the aforementioned decision due to the fact that the way to appeal the decisions of the General Assembly of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey was closed.
The Allegations
The applicant claimed that his being punished with disciplinary action for his words during the legislative activity violated his freedom of expression.
The Court’s Assessment
The disciplinary penalty against the applicant was taken by the General Assembly of the Grand National Assembly on the proposal of the Deputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly and by a majority vote. Since it was taken at the Plenary Session of the Legislative Assembly and as a result of a vote, the disciplinary action in question is a “parliamentary decision“.
Parliamentary decisions are legislative actions of the Parliament other than the law. Judicial supervision of legislative proceedings is regulated separately in the Constitution and the supervision task is assigned exclusively to the Constitutional Court. In other words, the constitution maker has individually determined which legislative process may be subject to what kind of judicial supervision, and he has personally authorized the authority to carry out the supervision. Since the date of adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey No. 2709 by popular vote on 7/11/1982, among the parliamentary decisions that are legislative actions, the decisions on amendments to the rules of procedure of the Grand National Assembly, the Decrement of the deputy and the abolition of legislative immunity are 85 of the Constitution. and 148. it has been subjected to judicial supervision with its articles. Apart from these three parliamentary decisions, there is no regulation in the Constitution that judicial audits of other parliamentary decisions will be carried out. The Constitutional Court cannot carry out a judicial audit in an area where it is not authorized.
45 of the Law No. 6216 on the Establishment of the Constitutional Court and Judicial Procedures. in accordance with paragraph (3) of the Article, the transactions that the Constitution excludes from judicial supervision cannot be the subject of an individual application. The disciplinary punishment that is the subject of the application is not one of the parliamentary decisions that the Constitution makes judicial supervision possible, therefore it was understood that the application was made against a process that the Constitution excludes from judicial supervision.
The Constitutional Court has decided that the application is inadmissible due to the lack of authority in terms of the subject matter on the grounds explained.
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