Top Turkish court finds registry of prisoner letters in e-judicial system ‘violation of rights’
Turkey’s Constitutional Court (AYM) has ruled that the Justice Ministry's move to register letters received or written by prisoners in the e-justice system UYAP is a violation of the “right to respect for private life and freedom of communication.”
Duvar English
Turkey’s Constitutional Court (AYM) has ruled that the registration of letters received or written by prisoners in the system called National Judicial Network Information System (UYAP) is a violation of the “right to respect for private life and freedom of communication.”
The ruling concerns the application of the prisoner named Ümit Karaduman, who is imprisoned in the northwestern province of Tekirdağ.
Karaduman initially took the case to a local court, saying that his letters were scanned and registered in the UYAP system. Karaduman said that there is no legal basis for such an implementation and that the prison administration did not respond to his requests for an end to this practice or the deletion of the records.
After the local court decided that the action was not unconstitutional, Karaduman submitted an individual application to the Constitutional Court.
The Justice Ministry said in its defense that "a very limited number of authorized persons can access the data."
The Constitutional Court found that the prisoner's rights were violated, but turned down his request for a compensation. The decision was published in the Official Gazettee.