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MINISTERS’ DEPUTIES |
Decisions |
CM/Del/Dec(2024)1501/H46-34 |
13 June 2024 |
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1501st meeting, 11-13 June 2024 (DH)
H46-34 Kavala v. Türkiye (Application No. 28749/18) Supervision of the execution of the European Court’s judgments
Reference documents |
Decisions
The Deputies
1. recalled the Court’s findings in the Kavala v. Turkey judgment of 10 December 2019, that the applicant’s arrest and pre-trial detention took place in the absence of evidence to support a reasonable suspicion he had committed an offence (violation of Article 5 § 1 of the Convention) and pursued an ulterior purpose, namely to silence him and dissuade other human rights defenders (violation of Article 18 taken in conjunction with Article 5 § 1); and that the one year and nearly five months taken by the Constitutional Court to review his complaint was insufficiently “speedy”, given that his personal liberty was at stake (violation of Article 5 § 4); together with the Court’s indication under Article 46 of the Convention that any continuation of the applicant’s pre-trial detention would entail a prolongation of the violations of Article 5 § 1, and of Article 18, as well as a breach of the obligations on the respondent State to abide by the Court’s judgment in accordance with Article 46 § 1, of the Convention, and that in consequence Türkiye was required to take all necessary measures to put an end to the applicant’s detention and to secure his immediate release;
2. recalled further that the Court delivered a judgment under Article 46 § 4 on 11 July 2022 concluding, inter alia, that its finding of a violation of Article 18 taken together with Article 5 in the first Kavala judgment had vitiated any action resulting from the charges against the applicant related to the Gezi Park events and the attempted coup and that the domestic proceedings which resulted in his conviction had not made it possible to remedy the problems identified in the first judgment; and therefore that Türkiye had failed to fulfil its obligation under Article 46 § 1 to abide by the Kavala v. Turkey judgment of 10 December 2019;
3. noted that, under Article 46 § 5 of the Convention, when the Court finds a violation of Article 46 § 1, the case is referred back to the Committee of Ministers for consideration of the measures to be taken; and underlined that, given the exceptional nature of the Court’s findings in its two judgments in this case, Türkiye remains in serious breach of its obligations under the Convention and the principles of the rule of law until Mr Kavala is released;
As regards individual measures
4. expressed profound concern that Mr Kavala remains detained and deeply deplored the absence of any progress towards his release; once again, strongly exhorted all Turkish authorities, including the competent domestic courts, to consider all possible options to ensure his immediate release;
5. noting that the Constitutional Court proceedings provide an important opportunity to secure Mr Kavala’s release, expressed their grave concern that his current applications to the Constitutional Court have still not been examined, although the first was lodged two years ago, and urged the authorities to ensure that the Constitutional Court decides those applications promptly and taking full account of Türkiye’s obligations under the Convention;
6. noted with interest the confirmation of a forthcoming follow-up high level technical meeting with the Secretariat and underlined that this should aim to achieve concrete and result-oriented progress;
7. further encouraged member and observer States to intensify and deepen constructive, results-oriented dialogue with the Turkish authorities at the highest levels with a view to securing the implementation of the European Court’s judgment;
As regards general measures
8. invited the authorities to provide information on the measures envisaged to ensure that the Constitutional Court concludes judicial review complaints in cases involving detention in a speedy manner, in compliance with the requirements of Article 5 § 4 of the Convention;
9. noted the request of the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly to the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) for an Opinion on the relevant Turkish legislation concerning the composition of the Council of Judges and Prosecutors and the election procedure of its members;
10. encouraged the Turkish authorities, once again, to pursue technical dialogue with the Secretariat with a view to taking the necessary measures to ensure independence of the judiciary, in particular by securing the structural independence of the Council of Judges and Prosecutors from the executive; and decided to continue their supervision of the general measures at their 1507th meeting (September 2024) (DH).