Report No. 162

3.11 Turkey.-

The basis of all judicial jurisdictions in Turkey is the Constitution of 1961.

The principle of a separate and independent administrative court system was first established in Turkey in 1868 under the Ottoman Empire and was continued by the Turkish Republic.

Article 140 of the 1961 Constitution declares that the Council of State (Danstay) is an administrative court of first instance in matters not referred by law to other administrative courts and an administrative court of last instance in general. The law relating to the Turkish Council of State is Law No. 521 of 1964 which has been subsequently amended. The Council of State has jurisdiction to annul administrative action on grounds of defects of jurisdiction, form, cause, subject-matter and motive.