An individual application to the Constitutional Court is a judicial remedy sought in cases where any of the fundamental rights and freedoms defined in the Constitution and enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and its protocols have been violated.
In order to file an individual application with the Constitutional Court (AYM), the rights and freedoms alleged to have been violated must be guaranteed both in the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey and in the European Convention on Human Rights and its additional protocols. For example, the prohibition of ill-treatment and torture is guaranteed both in the Constitution and in the ECHR, and an individual application may be filed in case of violation of this right. However, although the right to social security is guaranteed in the Constitution, it is not a right protected under the ECHR and therefore no individual application may be filed with the Constitutional Court in case of violation of this right.
Arrest is the measure most frequently encountered in individual applications due to the violation of the right to liberty and security of the person. Individual application is a judicial remedy that can be sought for any kind of victimization resulting from the violation of a protected right in many areas of law, such as criminal law, administrative law, civil law, etc.
Legislation Regarding the Right to Individual Application to the Constitutional Court
The right to individual application to the Constitutional Court was introduced into the legal system with the amendments made to Articles 148 and 149 of the 1982 Constitution by Law No. 5982 dated 12/09/2010.
Article 76 of the same law states that the regulation on the right to individual application will enter into force on 23/09/2012.
The provisions regarding the procedure for individual applications to the Constitutional Court are explained in detail in Articles 59-84 of the Constitutional Court Internal Regulations.
Who Can Apply to the Constitutional Court (AYM)?
Anyone whose rights guaranteed by the Constitution, the European Convention on Human Rights, and the protocols to which Turkey is a party have been violated can apply individually to the Constitutional Court (AYM).
Private legal entities (associations, foundations, companies, etc.) may apply on the grounds that the rights of the legal entity have been violated.
Public legal entities cannot apply individually to the Constitutional Court (AYM).
Requirement to Exhaust Ordinary Judicial Remedies Before Applying Individually to the Constitutional Court
Persons whose rights have been violated may file an individual application with the Constitutional Court after exhausting all administrative and judicial remedies. Individual applications cannot be filed against legislative acts, regulatory administrative acts, Constitutional Court decisions, and acts excluded from judicial review by the Constitution.
The requirement to pursue judicial remedies means that ordinary legal remedies must be exhausted. Ordinary legal remedies are deemed to have been exhausted from the date of interpretation or notification of final local court decisions.
The Constitutional Court requires that the most effective of the ordinary legal remedies be exhausted if more than one judicial remedy is available for the same matter.
What is the deadline for filing an individual application with the Constitutional Court?
The deadline for filing an individual application with the Constitutional Court is 30 days from the date on which the last ordinary legal remedy was exhausted. The individual application form and supporting documents must be sent to the Constitutional Court within 30 days after all ordinary legal remedies have been exhausted. To avoid missing the application deadline, it is sufficient to submit the application form to the court or diplomatic missions within 30 days for submission to the Constitutional Court. The date of application to the Constitutional Court is calculated based on the date the application form and supporting documents are submitted.
The start of the 30-day individual application period is the date on which the exhaustion of judicial remedies is learned or the date on which the decision is notified to the applicant. In cases of force majeure, such as serious illness, the applicant must file an application within 15 days of the date of notification of the reason. In criminal cases, the individual application period is often missed because the Supreme Court’s APPROVAL decisions are not notified to the parties concerned. I n a decision of the Constitutional Court (Yavuz ÖZGENÇ’s Decision dated 29/9/2016 and numbered 2014/5006); the Court of Cassation ruled that persons who were not notified of the decisions must apply to the Court of Cassation within three months at the latest from the date of notification of the court decision.
At the end of three months, it ruled that the 30-day period for filing an individual application with the Constitutional Court would begin.
How to File an Individual Application with the Constitutional Court?
To file an individual application with the Constitutional Court (AYM), the Constitutional Court Individual Application Form must be completed in accordance with the procedure. This form must be completed as follows:
First, personal information must be written accurately and clearly in the relevant fields.
Then, the incident subject to the individual application and the entire judicial process must be summarized in chronological order.
Documents and decisions to be attached to the application form must be numbered and attached.
A photocopy of the applicant’s identity document must be attached to the application.
Applications without a photocopy of the identity document will be rejected solely on this basis (the authenticity of the photocopied documents and decisions must be verified).
The application form must specify which rights, as set out in the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights, have been violated due to the incident and judicial process that is the subject of the individual application. The Constitutional Court (AYM)
officially determines which article of the Constitution or which article of the Convention has been violated if the alleged violation and the resulting harm are well explained, even if the applicant claims that the alleged violation and the resulting harm are not related to the article of the Constitution or the Convention cited by the applicant.
In individual applications to the Constitutional Court, unlike applications to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), the amount of compensation must be specified and requested at the outset in the application form. Otherwise, even if the Court finds a violation, it will not award compensation.
The individual application form and supporting documents may be submitted directly to the Constitutional Court and the file may be delivered in person, sent through the competent courts at any courthouse, or submitted through diplomatic missions. The same methods should be used for correspondence after the submission of the application form and supporting documents. Applications sent by any other means or by mail will not be accepted.
Those in prison may apply through the prison administration after filling out the forms they request from the prison administration. In a decision of the Constitutional Court (Ramazan VURAL Application, dated 7/7/2015 and numbered 2013/1148), in an individual application made in prison, the applicant’s request for legal aid was accepted on the grounds that he was in prison and therefore did not have sufficient financial means.
What is the Cost of an Individual Application to the Constitutional Court?
Individual applications to the Constitutional Court are subject to a fee. The amount of the fee varies each year according to the law on fees. The individual application fee for 2016 is 239.50 TL.
Individual applications to the Constitutional Court are subject to a fee. The amount of the fee varies each year according to the law on court fees. The individual application fee for 2016 is 239.50 TL. A document confirming payment of the application fee and, if the application is made through a lawyer, a sample power of attorney (with the attorney’s fee and bar association stamp affixed) must be submitted.