Turkey’s Constitutional Court in a unanimous vote on Friday rejected a petition filed by the main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) to abrogate 13 decree-laws issued under an ongoing state of emergency, the Hürriyet daily reported, with the result that the decrees have become part of Turkish law.
In a written statement the court announced that reviewing the constitutionality of government decrees falls outside its jurisdiction and said it could only review the procedures under which a decree goes into effect.
The government decrees were issued by the Cabinet under authority bestowed by the state of emergency, in force since July 2016, and subsequently approved by parliament.
The court previously rejected another application from the CHP for abrogation of a government decree for the same reason in Oct. 2016.
Critics allege that the Constitutional Court has confirmed its non-existence with the ruling.
Under the state of emergency, the Cabinet has thus far issued 31 decree-laws that ordered the dismissal of more than 110,000 civil servants and the closure of hundreds of private companies, associations and media outlets.
According to the Turkish media, the state of emergency will be lifted on July 19, when its seventh extension will expire, but the decrees issued during its existence will remain in force.