Parliament Approves First Article on Court Defense Bill

The parliament reached consensus last night on the first article of a bill  enabling defendants to speak in the mother tongue, including Kurdish.

The proposed bill enabled to defendants to speak in the mother tongue upon the declaration of charges and verdict. The bill also proposes convicts to meet their spouses privately.

Local juridical authorities are envisioned to create a pool of interpreters among which the defendant will select one interpreter, the prosed bill envisioned. The interpretation cost are foreseen to be at defendant's expense.

The proposed bill also enabled prosecutors and judges to assign interpreters other than in the local divisions.

Justice Ministry has been alerted to implement necessary regulations within the first 30 days of bill ratification.

The bill also enabled suspects to bring their own interpreters until local juridical authorities create their pool of interpreters.

Addressing the parliament during bill discussions, Peace and Democracy Party deputy Murat Bozlak underscored the importance of speaking in mother tongue, suggesting that it is one of the most fundamental human rights.

"Kurdish problem is the most fundamental problem of Turkey. Some people create a fuss about speaking Kurdish in courts. I am wondering how they will respond when Kurdish issue will seriously be discussed in Turkey."

Justice and Development Party deputy Recep Özel reminded that the bill did not envision to change the language of jurisdiction, saying that both official and juridical language of Turkey is still Turkish.

Republican People's Party deputy Bülent Tezcan, however, the questioning of juridical language would finally bring discussions on the sovereignty of the state, claiming that Turkish state abused defense rights due to the politicization of juridical body. (YY)