INCAL JUDGMENT OF 9 JUNE 1998
8
unions, nor may they be members of the executive committee of a trade
union (Law no. 2929, section 5). They are also forbidden to found or join
political parties (Law no. 2820, section 11(5)) and may not stand for
election to Parliament (Law no. 2839, section 11(f3)). In addition, if the
sentence imposed exceeds six months’ imprisonment, the convicted person
is debarred from entering the civil service, provided that the offence has
been committed intentionally (Law no. 657, section 48(5)).
2. The Press Act (Law no. 5680)
23. Additional section 4(1) of the Press Act (Law no. 5680) provides:
“Where distribution [of the printed matter whose distribution constitutes the
offence] is prevented … by a court injunction or, in an emergency, by order of the
Principal Public Prosecutor, to be confirmed by a court, … the penalty imposed shall
be one-third of that laid down by law for the offence concerned.”
3. The Prevention of Terrorism Act (Law no. 3713)
24. Law no. 3713 of 12 April 1991, promulgated with a view to
preventing acts of terrorism, refers to a number of offences defined in the
Criminal Code which it describes as “acts of terrorism” or “acts perpetrated
for the purposes of terrorism” (sections 3 and 4) and to which it applies.
However, the act punishable pursuant to Article 312 of the Criminal Code
(see paragraph 21 above) is not among them.
4. The Code of Criminal Procedure
25. Article 318 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides for the
holding of a public hearing in proceedings before the Court of Cassation
only where the impugned judgment concerns offences classified as
“serious”, such as those punishable by the death penalty or a term of
imprisonment of more than ten years. The Court of Cassation’s jurisdiction,
according to Article 307 of the Code, is limited to questions concerning the
lawfulness and procedural regularity of the first-instance judgment.
B. The National Security Courts
26. The National Security Courts were created by Law no. 1773 of
11 July 1973, in accordance with Article 136 of the 1961 Constitution. That
Law was annulled by the Constitutional Court on 15 June 1976. The courts
in question were later reintroduced into the Turkish judicial system by the
1982 Constitution. The relevant part of the statement of reasons contains the
following passage:
“There may be acts affecting the existence and stability of a State such that when
they are committed special jurisdiction is required in order to give judgment
expeditiously and appropriately. For such cases it is necessary to set up National