Justice actors including the public prosecutors and judges who have been selected as resource persons and gone through a series of training of trainers programs in the scope of the “Development of Mediation Practice in the Criminal Justice System of Turkey” Project promoted the practice of mediation as a win-win situation for both an effectively functioning judicial system and social peace during the training seminars held in 11-19 January 2010. The referred seminars were held in Ankara, İstanbul, İzmir, Adana, Van, Erzurum, Diyarbakır and Samsun with the participation of 1700 prosecutors and judges from all around Turkey.

In line with the topics included in “Mediation in Criminal Disputes Toolkit” developed in the project framework, different aspects of mediation in criminal justice system of Turkey, including but not limited to the benefits of mediation; the procedures to be followed by the practitioners including the public prosecutors, judges and mediators; offences eligible for mediation and its exceptions; mediation negotiations; legal results of mediation were discussed during the training seminars. Exemplifying the “Butterfly Effect Theory”, the trainers underlined the fact that the practice of mediation would greatly contribute to the decrease of the workload and the effective functioning of the judiciary in the medium and long run. Key messages given to promote this practice included disseminating the notion that mediation is a win-win situation for both the justice system and the public at large, making mediation part of Criminal Justice culture, mediating with the mediation system, taking courageous action to advocate the value of mediation, highlighting the fact that mediation actually resolves conflicts and reduces backlog in the court system.

The training seminars also provided a good opportunity for judicial actors to share the challenges faced during the implementation of mediation as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism. Two of the most pressing that were voiced by the participants were related to the shortcomings in the current legislative framework and the lack of incentives provided for the public prosecutors who have processed mediation in their own files. Providing feedback, the practitioners recommended a possible amendment in the current law, which would allow the application of mediation to a wider range of offences and the mediators to be drawn from a wider range of professions. In addition, the proposal for mediation at the law enforcement level was also emphasized as one of the bottlenecks for the effective practice of mediation. These challenges led to the conclusion that the ownership of this new institution by the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) would be a good source of motivation for the practitioners to apply mediation in their own practices.

As the main authorities promoting the institution of mediation in their respective courthouses, judicial actors expressed their satisfaction with the sessions aiming to contribute to an increase in the use of mediation practice in the Turkish Criminal Justice System and knowledge of mediation, amongst judicial professionals. Awareness raising activities on mediation will continue in following months so as to develop a coherent outreach strategy and action plan to increase mediation awareness amongst the practitioners and citizens and also improve cooperation among criminal justice professionals.

Introduction of alternative dispute resolution systems and improvement of restorative justice practices are among the high priority topics of the Government of Turkey to address the generally recognized problems of the Turkish judiciary including the excessive workload of the courts and the longevity of the average duration of judicial proceedings. Expected benefits from alternative dispute resolution systems including Mediation are to reduce the workload of the judiciary and serve rapid, low-cost and effective resolution of civil and criminal disputes as well as possible contribution to social peace. In compliance with this prioritization, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms are accepted in Turkish Criminal Law System. Within the scope of these new provisions brought by the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Project for the Development of Practice of Mediation in Criminal Justice System of Turkey. With the Project for the Development of Practice of Mediation in Criminal Justice System of Turkey, UNDP provides support Ministry of Justice regarding the pilot initiatives of restorative justice and mediation in Turkey.

For more about the project, please click here.