PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 8917/05) 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, Mr Atilla Kart (“the applicant”), on 8 February 2005.

The applicant was represented by Ms G. Egeli, a lawyer practising in Ankara. The Turkish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent.

The applicant complained in particular that the refusal to lift his parliamentary immunity had hindered criminal proceedings against him, thereby depriving him of his right of access to a court under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention.

In a decision of 15 January 2008, following a hearing on admissibility and the merits (Rule 54 § 3 of the Rules of Court), the Chamber declared the application admissible.

A hearing took place in public in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg, on 15 January 2008 (Rule 59 § 3). There appeared before the Court: – for the Government Mr M. Özmen, Co-Agent, Ms E. Demir, Ms F. Nurel Uğural, Ms Y. Renda, Ms E. Esin, Ms Z. Gökşen Acar, Mr I. Neziroğlu, Mr A. Demir, Mr L. Savran, Advisers; – for the applicant Ms G. Egeli, Counsel, Mr A. Kart, Applicant. The Court heard statements by Ms Egeli and Mr Özmen.

On 1 February 2008 the Court changed the composition of its Sections (Rule 25 § 1), but this case remained with the Chamber constituted within the former Second Section.

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicant was born in 1954 and lives in Ankara.

In the parliamentary elections of 3 November 2002, as a member of the People's Republican Party (CHP), he was elected MP for the Konya constituency to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (“the National Assembly”).

Prior to his election he practised as a lawyer in Konya and, in the course of his professional activities, two sets of criminal proceedings were brought against him, one for insulting a lawyer and the other for insulting a public official.

As an MP he enjoyed parliamentary immunity.

On 23 December 2002 the Karapınar public prosecutor applied to the General Directorate of the Ministry of Justice to have the applicant's parliamentary immunity lifted for the purposes of the criminal proceedings against him for insulting a lawyer.

On 17 January 2003 the General Directorate of the Ministry of Justice transmitted the request to the Prime Minister's Office.

On 11 April 2003 the Konya Assize Court (“the Assize Court”) adopted a decision suspending the criminal proceedings against the applicant for insulting a public official, by virtue of Article 83 of the Constitution (on parliamentary immunity) and Article 253 § 4 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

On 4 December 2003 the Assize Court transmitted the case file to the Ministry of Justice with a view to having the applicant's parliamentary immunity lifted.

On 23 December 2003 the Department of Criminal Affairs of the Ministry of Justice referred the question to the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister's Office transmitted the case file to the National Assembly's joint committee (“the joint committee”).

On 28 May 2004, after noting that the applicant had requested the lifting of his immunity, the joint committee decided, in view of the nature of the charges, to stay the proceedings against him for insulting a public official until the end of his term of parliamentary office. It transmitted its decision to the plenary Assembly of the National Assembly (“the plenary Assembly”).

When the plenary Assembly met on 8 December 2004 the joint committee's report was read and appended to the minutes of the meeting.

On 15 December 2004 the applicant challenged the joint committee's decision. In his pleadings he made the point that parliamentary immunity had not been introduced to render Members of Parliament unaccountable or immune from punishment, but to allow them to discharge their duties wholly independently and dispassionately. Unlike non-liability, he argued, immunity was by nature a relative and temporary privilege. However, the scope of the immunity, the procedure for lifting it and the shortcomings in its implementation had undermined due respect for the National Assembly. The applicant added that it was unacceptable, in a society governed by the rule of law, that an institution originally meant to help MPs to discharge their duties should be transformed into a personal privilege.

On an unspecified date examination of the matter of the lifting of the applicant's parliamentary immunity in the proceedings concerning the insulting of a lawyer was referred to the joint committee under Rules 131 et seq. of the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly. The National Assembly decided to stay the proceedings until the dissolution of the 22nd Parliament.

On 31 January 2005 the applicant challenged that decision.

His file was then sent before the plenary Assembly.

On 7 February 2005 the Secretariat of the Speaker's Office informed the applicant that the files concerning him had been placed on the agenda of the plenary Assembly.

At the meeting of the plenary Assembly on 16 February 2005 the applicant once again asked to be allowed to avail himself of his right to be judged in a fair trial and requested that the obstacles to his exercise of that right be removed.

The applicant was re-elected as CHP party MP for the Konya constituency in the parliamentary elections of 22 July 2007.

On 8 January 2008 the Speaker of the National Assembly sent him a letter informing him of progress with the procedure for lifting his parliamentary immunity. The relevant passages read as follows: “(...) during the 22nd Parliament [2002-2007] 299 files concerning immunity were forwarded to the joint committee. In 252 cases the committee decided to stay the proceedings until the next dissolution. In 226 cases that decision was challenged. The files corresponding to those cases were placed on the plenary Assembly's agenda for examination. However, the plenary Assembly did not examine them. During the 22nd Parliament's term two files concerned your immunity. The first, file no. 3/176, concerned the proceedings brought against you by the Konya-Ereğli public prosecutor for insulting a lawyer; the second, file no. 3/453, concerned the proceedings before the Konya Assize Court for insulting a public official. In both cases the joint committee decided to stay the proceedings until the end of your term of office. Following your appeal, the files were placed on the plenary Assembly's agenda but have not been examined. In this 23rd Parliament [which started in 2007] 77 files concerning the lifting of immunity remain pending before the joint committee. Two of those files are in your name; they were given the numbers 3/107 and 3/129 following your re-election on 22 July 2007. Since the beginning of this Parliament all the files, including yours, have been sent before three preparatory committees set up by the joint committee. These committees started work on 27 December 2007 (...). They are to announce their decisions within a month of that date.”

On 23 and 24 January 2008 the applicant filed two defence memorials against the suspension of the two sets of criminal proceedings against him. In them he repeated his wish to be allowed to exercise his right to a fair trial.