Long-standing systemic shortcomings in the administration of justice in Turkey adversely affect the protection of human rights, report by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg reads.

Despite serious reforms undertaken and the progress achieved by Turkey in tackling some of the major obstacles in recent years, its law and practice is still not in line with the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights. One of the major factors hampering progress lies in the established attitudes and practices followed by judges and prosecutors at different levels giving precedence to the protection of the state over the protection of human rights.

Lengthy proceedings and detentions continue to raise serious concerns.

“The Turkish authorities should strengthen their efforts to accelerate proceedings and use non-custodial alternatives more frequently. They should also reduce the excessively long time limits for detention, which can currently go up to ten years,” the Commissioner said.