Dismissal of headscarved lawyers from court violates their rights: Top court

ANKARA

Headscarved lawyers are seen during a protest at the Istanbul Courthouse.

The prevention of a headscarf-wearing female lawyer from representing her client at a local court in Ankara violated her rights, Turkey’s Constitutional Court has ruled.

The ruling was delivered following an individual application filed by the lawyer, after a local court refused to allow her to enter a hearing to represent her client because she was wearing a headscarf, Anadolu Agency reported on June 25.

The Constitutional Court reportedly stated that the local court’s refusal was in violation of Article 10 of the Constitution, which covers equality before the law, and of Article 24, which covers freedom of religion and conscience.

The ruling was voted for by a majority of the Court, with only one of its 17-member General Assembly objecting.

The Council of State approved the removal of the headscarf ban for lawyers in November 2013, which allowed lawyers to register at the Bar Association with a picture of them wearing a headscarf.
Nevertheless, in late March a local court in Ankara delayed a divorce trial because one of the lawyers was wearing a headscarf.

Upon that incident, Labor and Social Security Minister Faruk Çelik said he believed that “state of emergency” dress code regulations should be removed and be replaced by “governance based on the people and the nation.”