NEWS CENTER - President Erdoğan has said that his ruling AKP government’s bill which aims to decentralize bar associations will be submitted to the Parliament on June 30.

 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said that his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is going to submit its bill seeking a change to the organization of bar associations to the Parliament on June 30 morning.

 

“We will not give a chance to those who think nothing of the society’s interests for their own petty interests. We come across such an example with regards to the reform that we would like to undertake about professional bodies and bar associations,” Erdoğan said on June 29, following a cabinet meeting.

 

“The structures of the bar associations and professional bodies are causing fascist implementations. This is why we are focusing on [formation of] multiple bar associations. Our deputies are submitting the relevant bill tomorrow,” Erdoğan said.

 

If the draft bill becomes law, lawyers will be allowed to form additional bar associations in provinces with more than 5,000 registered lawyers. New associations would need a minimum of 2,000 members.

 

 

Bar associations begin Defense March to Ankara to protest government’s increasing pressure

 

A majority of bar associations however oppose the bill, saying that it will limit their associations’ power of oversight. For example, they may hesitate to penalize members who violate ethics if that were to push their association below the minimum membership threshold, they say. The bar associations also say that the legislation is an attempt to divide, scatter and control them.