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There are several different dimensions to the declining functionality of the Turkish Cypriot judiciary.
One of these is the number of judges in the Supreme Court, which forms the basis of the judiciary’s demand for a referendum; however, there are also the physical inadequacies of court buildings; the numerously reported biased attitudes of the police and the prosecutor’s office, which are pillars of the judiciary, and even cases that the prosecutor’s office never pursued due to political influence, has delayed, and, interestingly, has removed suspects from.
We can also mention the insufficient number of police officers, the current lack of organization in institutional units, and handicaps in terms of equipment and knowledge.
All these problems, together, create a major obstacle to the right to a fair trial and also overwhelm members of the judiciary under increasing workload.
Of course, these are the consequences. The causes are, again, the administrations.
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The alarming increase in population, along with the increase in the variety of crimes and the number of criminals; the failure to control immigration to the desired level; the black money system whetting the appetite of criminal groups; and the dirty relationships involving government officials are among the main causes.
The cause-and-effect relationship shows us that it is impossible to eliminate the current consequences, and that temporary improvements can only buy a little bit of time.
The judiciary’s demand to increase the number of Supreme Court judges is very appropriate and should be accepted, as everything from the workload to the psychology of judges is important for them to be able to make fair decisions. However, unless the causes are eliminated, it is almost certain that this will only provide a temporary gain.
This is because the population will not stop growing, and these minor improvements will soon become insufficient again due to the changing demographic structure.
According to the Constitution, this demand of the judiciary can only be met with 34 yes votes in the 50-seat Parliament and an absolute majority in a referendum.
But is this possible under the current conditions?
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The 2014 referendum, which proposed the amendment of Article 21 of the Constitution, was rejected with 62.16% voting no (CTP-BG&DP Government). and the 2020 referendum which proposed to increase the number of Supreme Court judges from 8 to 16 was rejected with 50.19% no votes (UBP-DP-YDP Government).
The governments at the time were blamed for these results, which devastated morale in the judiciary, and the public showed its lack of trust in the administration by rejecting the judiciary’s demands.
The current period has seen an even higher level of public reaction than these two periods.
Moreover, this period has seen politics mired in allegations of lawlessness and corruption/bribery to an extent never experienced before.
We are going through a disastrous period in which bureaucrats appointed by Prime Minister Ünal Üstel—who himself was appointed by Ankara to head the UBP and the government—are being arrested one by one on allegations of bribery, corruption, and fake diplomas.
To summarize briefly:
Parliament Speaker Ziya Öztürkler: Öztürkler, who was exposed by our newspaper with documented evidence of plagiarism in his articles, is also implicated in the fake diploma case.
Emrah Yeşilırmak: Although a case file is being prepared against him in the fake diploma case, his immunity has not been lifted, and he continues to sit in Parliament under dubious circumstances.
Government partner Fikri Ataoğlu: His name has been implicated in allegations of bribery concerning the leasing/allocation of numerous plots sutiable for touristic investments.
Government partner Erhan Arıklı: His name has been implicated in numerous allegations of corruption concerning T permits.
UBP former Women’s Branch President Fatma Ünal: She is being tried for a fake diploma.
Bureaucrats Hüseyin Cahitoğlu (Undersecretary) and Salih Canseç (Head of the Central Tender Commission) are on trial for corruption and bribery.
Audit Board Chairman Halil Talaykurt and Head of Housing Department Halis Üresin have been dismissed from their posts, with numerous allegations and Audit Office reports against them.
Police chiefs, heads of strategic institutions, and many other officials from that period could also be added to this list…
Can a referendum with a government mired in such allegations and seemingly defying the principle of the rule of law get a “yes” vote from the public?
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This seems highly unlikely.
It strikes me as odd that the High Court would request a referendum on judicial matters from such a government.
Can’t the outcome be predicted already?
Even if the opposition supports this referendum, won’t the public feel like they have found another opportunity to teach another lesson like the way they did at the time of Presidential elections?
Can public perception change in such a short time just because the opposition supports it?
I highly doubt it.
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Therefore, I believe the most sensible approach would be to postpone the referendum request—which the government is trying to use as a barrier against calls for early elections—saying, “But we will hold a judicial referendum first; there will be no early elections,” until after the government and Parliament have been renewed.
It is quite possible that members of the judiciary will see this.
After all, no one needs another defeat in a referendum.
This article was originally published on 05.02.2026
