Of Turkey's 44 public law faculties, 11 deans have non-legal backgrounds

While confidence in Turkey’s justice system hit rock bottom, 11 of the 44 law faculties in Turkey's public universities have deans who graduated from other faculties, including theology.

Tuesday October 29 2024 11:17 pm

Duvar English

In Turkey's public universities, one-fourth of the 44 law faculties have deans who were not graduates of law faculties.

As the trust in the justice system has declined to historically low levels and criticisms regarding the violations of right to a fair trial have intensified, discussions about the quality of legal education have also flared up in Turkey.

There are a total of 92 law faculties in Turkey and Northern Cyprus, including public and foundation universities, according to the reporting of the daily Sözcü.

Among the deans of public law faculties, there have been graduates from departments such as theology, archiving, and literature.

The main-opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) lawmaker Turan Taşkın Özer stated, "Law faculties are managed by deans who have not received legal education. There is also a serious lack of academic staff in the faculties. The quality of the education provided in terms of legal formation is decreasing each year for this reason. In other words, the system has taken on a form that depletes the country in legal terms right from the beginning."

For example, Emine Gümüşsoy, the Dean of the Faculty of Law at Osmangazi University, has a degree in history; Coşkun Karaca, the Dean of the Faculty of Law at Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University, graduated in finance; Emin Aşıkkutli, the Dean of the Faculty of Law at Trabzon University, has a degree in theology; and Hüseyin Odabaş, the Dean of the Faculty of Law at Çankırı Karatekin University, is a graduate of the archival studies.