… TO THE ……………… COURT
FILE NO:
APPEALANT: TC No:
ADDRESS:
REPRESENTATIVE:
ADDRESS:
SUBJECT: Submission of our petition requesting the annulment of the ……. date and …… / ……. numbered decision of the …………… Criminal Court, which blocked access to the website “www…….com”, and the restoration of access to the site, or a decision to block access only to the relevant site.
OUR EXPLANATIONS
1-) Access to the website “www……….com” has been blocked by your court’s decision dated …./…/… and numbered …./…. Our client learned of this decision not from a notification sent to him, but through the media after his colleagues mentioned the matter. There are also many small blog-like websites linked to this site. One of them belongs to our client, ……. 1) The website in question is a blog.
The site contains useful information as well as scientific articles. Due to our client’s academic background, people from all over Turkey can reach our client through the website and benefit from the articles and scientific opinions posted there.
2) The decision has caused our client significant material and moral harm. Website users cannot access the website or our client, an academic, because the site has been shut down due to a crime our client is not involved in.
3) In accordance with the reference made by the provisions of the Law No. 5846 on Intellectual and Artistic Works (FSEK) to the Code of Criminal Procedure (CMK) No. 5271, and pursuant to Articles 267 and 268 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CMK) No. 5271, we, as the “relevant party,” submit our objection to the decision on behalf of our client and request its annulment based on the aforementioned reasons.
4) In addition, the decision violates the principle of individual responsibility for crime and punishment. According to this principle, the perpetrator of the crime must also serve the sentence imposed. However, with this decision, the client’s website, which does not contain any of the elements of the crime in question, has also been blocked. In this case, your court’s decision is also contrary to Article 38/1 of the Constitution; Article 20/1 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) No. 5237; and Article 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
5) There is no rule regarding the duration of the access ban. In this case, when an access ban decision is made for a site, it will be possible to block access to that site indefinitely. Undoubtedly, such an application is also incompatible with the principle of proportionality in punishments.
6) What should be done is to ensure that only the blog page containing the elements of the crime is blocked. Otherwise, access to websites that do not contain elements of the crime may also be blocked.
7) On the other hand, this decision also violates the client’s freedom of expression, which is guaranteed by Article 26 of the Constitution and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The dissemination, publication, and transmission of an idea are also considered within the scope of freedom of expression. The decision to block access is also contrary to the jurisprudence of the ECHR in this respect.
LEGAL GROUNDS: ECHR Articles 7, 10; Law No. 2709 Articles 26, 38; Law No. 5237 Article 20; Law No. 5271 Articles 267, 268; Law No. 5846 Additional Article 4.
LEGAL EVIDENCE:
1) Newspaper clippings from various newspapers
2) …../…/…. Court Decision Regarding Access Blocking Dated [Date]
3-) Expert Examination
CONCLUSION AND REQUEST: For the reasons stated, we object to your court’s decision numbered …../…. as “interested parties” under Article 267/1 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CMK) No. 5271; we respectfully request, on behalf of our client, that the decision be overturned and the access ban imposed on our website “………..com” be lifted; if lifting is not possible, we request that the decision be corrected to “block access only to the blog containing elements of crime.” …/…/…
ATTACHMENTS:
Attorney for the Objecting Party
Attorney [Name]
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