PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 9907/02) against the Republic of Turkey lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by a Turkish national, Ms Emine Araç (“the applicant”), on 22 October 2001.

The applicant was represented by Mr M. Muller and Mr T. Otty, lawyers practising in London, and by Mr H. Tuna in Istanbul. The Turkish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent.

The applicant alleged that the facts of the case disclosed a breach by the respondent State of its obligations under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention.

On 19 September 2006 the Court declared the application partly inadmissible and decided to give notice to the Government of the complaint under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention. In accordance with Article 29 § 3 of the Convention, it also decided to examine the admissibility and merits of the case at the same time.

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicant was born in 1973 and lives in Istanbul.

On 24 September 1998 the applicant, a student in the Faculty of Theology of İnönü University in Malatya, sought to enrol in the Faculty of Theology of Marmara University. For that purpose she provided, among other materials, an identity photograph which showed her wearing a headscarf.

On 1 October 1998 the Faculty of Theology of Marmara University replied to the applicant, informing her that the identity photograph she had supplied did not comply with the regulations in force and that where this was the case, the person concerned could not be enrolled.

On an unspecified date the applicant lodged an application for judicial review with the Istanbul Administrative Court. She requested, in particular, that the refusal of the administrative authorities be set aside as being in breach of her rights.

In a judgment of 23 September 1999, the Administrative Court rejected the application, finding that the authorities’ refusal had been in accordance with the regulations in force. The court considered, in particular, that the applicant had submitted an identity photograph which did not conform to the regulations, which stipulated that “photographs must show the subject facing forward and be less than six months old, so that the person concerned is readily identifiable; the head and neck must also be uncovered” (Article 4 § 1 (f) of the Guide for University Applicants adopted by the Higher Education Board on 17 April 1998).

Following an appeal by the applicant on points of law, the Supreme Administrative Court upheld the judgment of 23 September 1999, finding it to have been in accordance with the law and the procedural rules. The relevant parts of the Supreme Administrative Court judgment read as follows: “Summary of the request: ... Opinion of Mrs Serpil K. Erdoğan, investigating judge of the Supreme Administrative Court: the judge is of the opinion that the appeal should be dismissed and the first-instance judgment upheld. Opinion of Mr H. Hüseyin Tok, State Counsel (savcı) at the Supreme Administrative Court: the grounds of appeal set out in the statement of grounds do not correspond to those enumerated in Article 49 § 1 of the Code of Administrative Procedure. In view of the juridical and legal arguments on which the first-instance judgment was based, these grounds cannot be said to require the quashing of the impugned judgment ...”