Turan and Others v. Turkey, Nos. 75805/16 and other 426, ECtHR (Second Section), 23 November 2021

Arrest and pre-trial detention of judges and prosecutors within the Turkish judiciary, suspected of membership of an illegal organisation, following the attempted military coup of 15 July 2016.

Art. 5 ECHR

1. Given the prominent place that the judiciary occupies among State organs in a democratic society and the growing importance attached to the separation of powers and to the necessity of safeguarding the independence of the judiciary, the Court must be particularly attentive to the protection of members of the judiciary when reviewing the manner in which a detention order is implemented from the standpoint of the provisions of the Convention.

2. Having regard to the importance of the judiciary in a democratic State governed by the rule of law, and to the fact that protection of this kind is granted to judges and prosecutors not for their own personal benefit but in order to safeguard the independent exercise of their functions, the requirements of legal certainty become even more paramount where a member of the judiciary has been deprived of his or her liberty.
(In the present case, where there are precisely 427 judges and prosecutors as applicants, suspected of membership of the organisation which the Turkish authorities assess to have organised and carried out the attempted coup in July 2016, the European Court found that there has been a violation of article 5 of the Convention).