Turkey’s Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) has elected 100 new members to the country’s Supreme Court of Appeals and 16 to the Council of State, Turkish media reports said on Monday.
The election of the new members to the two top courts has been made in line with government decree No. 696, which calls for the appointment of new members to these courts due to their heavy workload.
Four members of the Council of State will be appointed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Twelve members have been elected from among administrative judges.
According to a recent presidential decree, any individual who has a completed a four-year university education will from now on be able to become an administrative judge in Turkey.
Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) government are heavily criticized for destroying the separation of powers in the country and creating their own judiciary, which acts on orders from Erdoğan.
Decree No. 703 was issued on July 10 by Erdoğan, who began his second term as president with sweeping authorities after taking the oath of office on July 9.
The names of the new members of the top courts will be posted on the websites of the courts.