Turkey’s Erdogan reveals new judicial reforms amid bid to join EU

Source:al Jazeera Date:01Jun2019

The judicial reform package, which was designed after consultation with legal experts and human rights groups, aimed to “strengthen our nation’s sense of justice”, Erdogan said.

While going into some detail on issues such as the training of lawyers and prosecutors, he gave little insight into how Turkey – ranked 109th out of 126 countries in the World Justice Project’s 2019 Rule of Law Index – would address criticism on issues such as the jailing of critical journalists, or the conviction of hundreds for insulting the president.

While I agree with the skepticism  and doubt expressed in the rest of the Al Jazeera article, I still feel the need to underline this is the first reform championed by Erdogan himself and is likely to achieve more than previous efforts.   Contrary to what the article claims, there are speficif promises about   improving freedom of speech, judicial independence and the right to free trial.