Violation of the Prohibition of Discrimination Due to the Treatment of a Visually Impaired Person in a Bank
Events
The applicant went to the bank branch to use the loan after the bank informed him that there was a credit limit. The branch staff stated that in order for the loan transactions to be completed, the applicant must sign the contract by writing “I have received a copy by hand” on the contract. Applicant stated that he could not do this because he was visually impaired and that these deficiencies were related to the visually impaired alphabet, camera recording, etc. although he stated that he could fix it by different methods, the applicant was kept waiting at the bank branch for more than two periods.
As a result of the time and this period, he left the bank branch without being able to use the loan. The applicant has filed a case for non-pecuniary damages against the bank in the civil court of first instance due to the incident in question. The court partially accepted the case and ordered the defendant bank to pay moral compensation to the applicant. District court of justice, which examined the bank’s appeal, decided to accept the appeal and definitively dismiss the case.
The Allegations
Applicant claimed that he was kept waiting for a long time at the private bank where he went to use a loan because he could not determine how to sign his signature due to his visual impairment, and that the prohibition of discrimination was violated due to a violation of rights. The right of protection and development of a person’s material and spiritual existence has been violated.
The Court’s Assessment
In the concrete case, it is clear that the applicant is in a similar situation with other individuals who want to use credit, except that he is visually impaired. Accordingly, the applicant’s inability to get a loan due to visual impairment constitutes different treatment. Therefore, a difference has been created on the basis of disability in terms of credit usage between bank customers whose situations are similar Dec.
In the case, the defendant bank failed to establish that there was an objective and justified basis for the different treatment that the applicant was subjected to due to his visual impairment. The state has a positive obligation to ensure that people with disabilities live on an equal footing with other individuals, taking into account their special needs. As a matter of fact, there is an agreement on the protection of persons with disabilities from discriminatory treatment in national and international regulations.
According to the reasoning of the regional court of justice, the failure to grant the loan was caused by the bank’s staff hesitating about the technical procedures to be performed due to the applicant’s visual impairment. Therefore, it was understood that the special needs of the visually impaired applicant were not taken into account. As a matter of fact, it could not be revealed that the necessary care was taken by neither the bank nor the regional court of justice regarding the effective implementation of an alternative measure that takes into account the applicant’s situation in relation to the bank transaction in question.
In this case, the main reason why the applicant cannot get a loan is because he is visually impaired and the provisions of the legislation to be applied in this case are not applied in accordance with constitutional principles. The regional court of justice has failed to provide an appropriate and sufficient justification for the interpretation of national and international regulations on the legal proceedings of persons with disabilities in the light of constitutional guarantees.
As a result, it was concluded that there was no objective and justified justification for the treatment carried out due to the applicant’s inability to use a bank loan and his visual impairment due to being kept waiting at the bank branch for a long time time.
The Constitutional Court ruled that the prohibition of discrimination related to the right to protection and development of a person’s material and spiritual existence was violated for the reasons explained.
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