Zihni v. Turkey, dec., No. 59061/16, ECtHR (Second Section), 8 December 2016

Lawfulness of a teacher’s dismissal following the failed coup d’état of 15 July 2016 in Turkey.

Art. 6 ECHR
Art. 13 ECHR
Art. 15 ECHR

1. The mere fact that the applicant has fears as to the impartiality of the Constitutional Court’s judges does not relieve him of the obligation to lodge an application before that court, so as to comply with the requirements of Article 35 §1 of the Convention.

2. The very fact of having doubts as to the prospects of success of a given remedy which is not obviously doomed to failure does not constitute a valid reason to justify the non-use of the remedy in question.
(In the present case, concerning the dismissal of a teacher by a legislative decree issued by the Council of Ministers in the context of the state of emergency introduced after the attempted coup d’état of July 2016, the Court unanimously declared the application inadmissible for failure to exhaust the domestic remedies).